


"I want to fall in Love!"

by sky_fish



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Friendship, From friends to lovers, Humor, Multi, Music Shop AU, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:50:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9276770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_fish/pseuds/sky_fish
Summary: When Aiba's cousin gets married, Aiba decides to find a partner and to fall in love too. His chosen one is Nino, his friend and co-worker at the music shop Crescendo, who does not seem to be pleased at all about Aiba's sudden affection - at least not instantly.





	1. The Decision

Fully packed with stuffed bags from the nearby grocery store, a brown-haired young man pedaled up the small hill to his home, a medium-sized apartment complex in the heart of Tokyo. The sun was shining high up in the almost cloudless sky since it has passed midday already, and the birds, sitting in the trees of the nearby little park, filled the air with more feelings of spring.

Panting, the young man stopped his bicycle and parked it in it's usual spot right in front of his apartment door on the ground floor. He sighed, satisfied, as he stretched his arms and grabbed the bags filled with food and other necessaties for his daily life, lifting his gaze up to the bright sky. He checked his watch to find that he still had time left for a small lunch and fumbled in his pockets to get out his keys and hurried inside.

Around half an hour and a bowl of cha-han later the young man exited his apartment again, locking the door firmly before he took his biycle again. Just when he was about to pass, he remembered to empty his letter box. He reached out to unlock the little box labled with his name, _"Aiba Masaki"_ and fished out a couple of newspapers, bills and a music magazine. As he was about to put everything into his backpack, he accidentally dropped a letter, picking it up curiously to find who's the sender.

A happy smile adorned his face when he recognized his cousin's name and despite being a bit late already, he allowed himself the time to open the letter. It was a _Thank You_ card from his cousin and his wife's wedding, a wonderful picture with the happy couple on the front. Aiba opened it to read a few thankful words and to see a few more photographs from the ceremony and the party that he had attended too, as a guest of course. He even spotted himself on one of the pictures, dressed in a nice grey suit and raising his glass to the camera with his typical wide smile.

He stuffed the card back into the envelop and let it slip into his backpack, so that he could show it to his colleagues at work later on. Cursing at the time, he then finally hopped onto his bicycle. He had to hurry, if he didn't want to get scolded again.

~*~*~

When Aiba entered the "Crescendo", the music shop he was working at, around five past two in the early afternoon, he of course wasn't exactly on time, but he considered it to be fine and thankfully, his boss was not anywhere in sight. The young man sighed in relief, murmuring a "safe!" to himself, immitating the typical gesture from those baseball games he adored so much, as he stepped inside.

The shop, which specialized on band instruments as well as CDs and concert DVDs of various pop and rock artists, wasn't too busy with customers, just as usual for that time on a typical working day. Following the jingle of the entrance's bell, the humming of a familiar voice accompanied by the low music from the background welcomed Aiba; and it took just a moment before the source of that voice could be seen, causing the other to smile happily.

A young man, a bit smaller than Aiba, black-haired and wearing a baseball cap sideways appeared behind the counter, lifting a cardboard box onto it. He looked at the newcomer's direction, revealing his name-tag in the movement, reading _"Ninomiya Kazunari"_.

"Hey, Aiba, you're... 6 minutes late to your shift, Ken-chan left already, and he told me to return you your concert-DVD," the guy greeted him before he resumed cutting the box open and unpacking several stacks of new-ordered CDs from it, continuing to hum the melody from the speakers hanging from the shop's corners.

Aiba face-palmed as he remembered that he had agreed to come earlier today to exchange a few words about the concert-DVD with his colleague who had the early shift. However, he could just text him later on, he thought and finally came closer. He flashed his co-worker a wide smile, answering the greeting.

"I'm sorry for being late, Nino. I forgot about Ken-chan... Busy day so far?"

"Rush hour at midday like usual, other than that nothing special," Nino stated and Aiba nodded, thanking his colleague as the latter handed him the DVD in question.

He then quickly vanished to the dressing room at the back to drop his backpack and the DVD in his locker, replacing his light jacket with a dark green apron, showing a yellow stitched logo of the shop's name on the front. He greeted another co-worker, Inoue Mao, who was just getting a fresh bottle of water from stock and then hurried outside to join Nino behind the counter.

His look fell onto a small stack of CDs displayed on top of the counter directly in front of the register and smilingly he fished one of it. The cover was showing a picture of a young man on a dark stage with blue and yellow lights, causing a mysterious atmosphere. He was sitting on a high chair, holding an acoustic guitar and singing into a microphone, a passionate look on his face.

If someone looked closer, that person would be able to recognize the young man from behind the counter, even if he wasn't wearing his baseball cap in the photograph, on the CD cover. In the left upper corner there was a small logo, a yellow smiley but at a second look it could be seen that in the yellow circle there wasn't the typical pair of dot-eyes and smiley mouth but the two katakana syllables "ﾆ" and "ﾉ". Underneath, there was the name written in Romaji, "Nino" and diagonally in the lower right middle in a handwritten like font there was the CD's title "First (Im)Press(ion)" embellishing the cover.

Aiba smirked proudly, looking at his friend. "I see less copies in stock than yesterday, am I right?" he asked, referring to Nino's CDs.

The other blushed nicely, shrugging his shoulders to contradict his mimic. "There were two people buying a copy today."

"Congratulations," Aiba said happily. "So how many sold copies have you chalked up till today?"

"74," the other answered, knowing the number by heart and a hint of pride swaying in his voice.

"Wow, that's pretty good for an indie CD, Nino! See, I told you, you've got it!" the other cheered excitedly.

In Aiba's eyes, Nino wasn't just a simple music shop clerk. In his opinion he was a really talented, upcoming singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice, who just needed to be discovered by more people to increase his popularity. Indeed, his friend had been a hobby musician, spending most of his spare time at home playing the guitar, writing and singing his own songs, and sometimes he had a small gig in a club or a bar in the neighborhood. Recently, Nino had even joined a small indie label to distribute his first mini-album that he had recorded in a small studio in the neighborhood as soon as he had enough money saved from his job for the fee.

Maybe, his ambitions weren't as high as Aiba's expectations but Nino was glad to have his friend's support. Thanks to him, the owner of the "Crescendo" had – following Aiba's suggestion – even generously allowed Nino to display his CDs in a place where it had a better chance of being noticed by customers and to hang up a small promotion poster in the shop window. In addition, Aiba's shameless, enthusiastic promotion helped too, sometimes, he had to admit.

"It's only 74 copies, Aiba, no need to freak out," Nino waved off, but blushed a little, a small smirk showing at the corner of his lips.

" _I_ think it's awesome and I'll be proud of being your number one fan when you become a well-known star one day!"

"Dream on," Nino chuckled, punching his friend's upper arm playfully before he switched the topic. "How did you spend your half day off?"

"Well... sleeping in as long as I could, having a nice breakfast," Aiba started listing. "Doing some grocery shopping, lunch and just before I came here, I found _this_ in my letter box!" he pulled out the _Thank you_ card from his cousin and his wife from his pocket, showing it to Nino who made a whistling sound as he grabbed it and took a closer look.

"Wow, what a good looking bridal pair we've got here," he said, appreciating. "So this is your cousin?" he pointed at the overly happy grinning man on the picture, not even waiting Aiba's agreement as he hummed and stated how much he resembled his cousin.

"And this is Juri-chan, isn't she a beauty?" Aiba pointed at the luminous bride with brown, shoulder-length wavy hair, wearing a brilliant white wedding dress in Western style. "Look how the White brings out her beautiful tan and that cute tiara with the bridal veil makes the picture perfect."

"She's really beautiful," Nino agreed. "They look really happy, the wedding must have been a huge success for them."

"The ceremony was really touching and the party was just gorgeous," Aiba remembered the festive event from about a month ago with a broad smile. "There were so many people celebrating the couple, it was stunning. Family, friends, colleagues, eveyone was there! It was great!"

"You went there alone, didn't you?" Nino asked.

"I did. And it was a bit strange. You see, most of those invited were there with their partners, husbands, wifes... there was a huge amount of couples."

"I heard there's a high chance to find a potential partner at a wedding," the smaller man pointed out. "But I guess if everyone was taken already, there was no one left for poor lonely Aiba-chan."

"Oh, I wasn't _that_ lonely. To be honest, I met a pretty hot girl there and we even spent the night together in her hotel suite," Aiba said, casually.

"Liar!" the other gaped at him.

"No, it's the truth."

"Did you see her again since then?" the other asked curiously.

"I didn't. To be honest, she was hot, our night was hot, but it didn't click with us so we agreed to never see each other again," Aiba finalized the matter with shrugging shoulders.

"I see," Nino nodded, finally taking the CDs to re-stock them on their respective shelves. "A onenight-stand."

"Pretty good one, I have to admit," the other smirked, following him in order not to stop their chat. "But that's not what I'm searching for. I decided on something else."

"What do you mean?" his friend wondered.

"I decided that I want to fall in love!" Aiba said, clenching his fist to underline his determination.

"Eh?" Nino turned to look at his friend and he was sure, if they were in a shojo-anime, flowers and sparkles would now appear to frame Aiba's silly expression. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Not that I want to ruin the fun, Aiba, but I think falling in love is not something that you can _decide_."

"Why not?" his colleague asked, sincerely wondering. "I'm open minded and I'm full of love to give. I can start loving someone right away if the other person is willing too."

"Stupid...," Nino murmured to himself, shaking his head slightly.

"I just need someone who is willing to date me and then we will fall in love with each other like in one of those romantic movies. It will be perfect," Aiba was back to his daydreaming mode.

"Do what you want as long as you don't use those stupid dating apps. I heard only bad stuff about that crap and I don't want my best friend to end up with a broken heart," Nino answered resuming his work and filling a few more displays with CDs.

Aiba still didn't move away but kept on observing the other, until Nino finally looked at him again, annoyed by being stared at.

He groaned. "What is it, Aiba?"

"Nino, I just thought... How about this, do _you_ want to try dating me?" the other then suggested out of the blue.

"What?" Nino almost choked on air as he chuckled in surprise. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"I'm not," Aiba said with a straight face.

"Seriously?!"

Nino frowned. He couldn't believe it. When Aiba leaned a bit forward, smirking, he drew back a little but didn't break their eye-contact.

"Why not? You're cute, you know? And you're quite my type, I have to say," Aiba explained, eyeing the other man from top to toes, openly appreciating what he saw.

"Cute?" Nino almost dropped the stack of CDs he was holding, sighing in relief when he caught them just in time. "Oh come on, I'm selfish, stingy, moody, my one and only interested is music, is that what you call _cute_?"

"You have your cute sides too, ne Mao-chan?" Aiba yelled through half of the shop, seeking his other co-worker's agreement. Nino blushed and hushed him when a few customers turned their heads towards them for a moment but Aiba didn't care at all. "Like when you hum songs during work and don't even realize it. Or when you share your ramen with me because you can't eat so much."

"That's just because it's a pity to throw the rest away if I paid for it!" Nino protested. "Why me? Ask Mao-chan," he continued, pouting.

"I'm very sorry but _I do_ have a boyfriend," Mao, who – of course hadn't been eavesdropping - had suddenly appeared in the same row as the other two shop clerks said in a low voice.

"What?!" Nino and Aiba asked surprised – maybe a bit _too_ surprised considering Mao's death glare shooting them immediately.

Looking at the CD displays, the young woman pretended to be checking if they were really sorted in alphabetic order, as usual. "What, is it so unlikely that I have a boyfriend? Idiots! We're happy together quite a long time already and once he gets his guts together, he'll ask me to marry him, for sure!" she defended her relationship.

"Oh, well, congratulations then… in advance... I guess," Nino answered.

Mao sighed. "Let's see if he has the balls, we're together for _years_ already…"

"You sound frustrated, want to talk about it?" Aiba asked directly, but Nino nudged him at his side to make him stop.

"Leave her alone, Aiba."

"What? I just wanted to offer her a friendly ear!"

"It's OK, Aiba-kun, thanks for your concern," Mao answered with a smile, leaving them again.

Nino cleared his throat. "However, since when are you into guys, weren't you just talking about how beautiful your cousin's wife looked in that bridal dress and bragging about a onenight-stand with a _hot girl_?"

"Well, that was just me going with the flow," Aiba leaned against the CD shelf – most likely trying to look cool - brushing some products which he then had to prevent from falling from the shelves before he took his _cool_ posture again, pretending that nothing had happened. "I think marriage is overrated but a partnership in general would be nice. However, to be honest, I don't really care if my partner is a girl or a boy, you see?"

"Hm," Nino hummed in acknowledgment before he headed to the next row.

Aiba followed him, ignoring the fact that his friend might not be interested in continuing their conversation. He just kept on talking to finish his explanation. "We're friends, I like you and you like me… that's a good basis, isn't it?"

Nino whirled around, raising his eyebrows. "And when did _I_ ever say that I'm into guys?"

"You're not?" Aiba wondered. "I always thought it would be possible since I never heard you talking about having a girlfriend or liking girls or anything."

"Maybe I just don't talk about such things to the whole world?" Nino frowned.

"True, we don't really talk about such stuff, right?" Aiba made a thinking gesture, recalling the less embarrassing topics he usually shared with his friend when they were on outings like karaoke or going for drinks at the Izakaya "Little Mackerel" nearby. Those usually included music, baseball, music, family, oh and music.

"Ah, excuse me?" a female voice suddenly reached their ears.

Nino pointed at two girls lining up at the counter to pay. "Look, customers!"

Aiba quickly rushed away to serve them with a wide smile, since Mao seemed to be in the office at the back of the shop or something at the moment. Nino blushed when he heard Aiba advertising loudly for his friend's CD at the counter. He smiled happily when he heard that one of the girls actually decided on buying a copy, commenting that the cover looked pretty good for a self-made release and that she found the logo cute. When Aiba guiding the girls' attention directly at Nino, pointing into his direction, saying that the actual artist would surely be glad to sign the CD for them, the girls giggled sheepishly and eventually one of them approached the shop clerk to kindly ask him for the same. Nino blushed more, embarrassed by the sudden attention but gladly did what he was asked for, thanking the girl for giving his CD a chance.

"You can also join his unofficial fanclub, you see?" Aiba told the girls and showed them a small card that he pulled out of his pocket. It showed Nino's logo, a number (#1) and Aiba's full name as well as some other data. "I'm the club's president and we gladly accept new fans. Members are allowed to shake hands with Nino and-"

"Aiba, that's enough, I think they got it, don't scare them away," Nino barged in, red from embarrassment. As much as he appreciated his friend's passion about his music, sometimes he was just a little over the top.

However, the tall cheerful guy could convince the girl who had bought Nino's CD to take an empty fanclub card with her and waved happily behind her and her friend when they left the shop, whispering to each other.

"That makes 75 sold copies of Nino's debut mini-album _"First (Im)Press(ion)"_! Congratulations!", Aiba yelled joyfully, bumping his fist into the air, almost happier about the sale than the actual artist at the moment, who was busy with blushing as the rest of the shop's customers looked at him curiously.

"Thanks, Aiba," Nino just murmured.

"You're very welcome," Aiba said, putting his hands to his waist as he turned around to Nino again. "And now, back to topic."

"Which topic?" the other asked, pretending to have no clue what the other was actually talking about.

"So _do_ you have a girlfriend?"

"I don't," Nino shook his head, turning around again.

" _Boy_ friend?" Aiba didn't give up and followed him to the guitars.

"Negative."

Aiba caught up to his friend who had bent down to readjust a price tag properly. He hunkered down too, to meet his gaze. "Nino, have you ever been in love?"

Nino locked eyes with his colleague and frowned before he stood up again, strolling through the rows, looking for other possibly misplaced price tags. “Come on, Aiba, you're too curious. I'm not in the mood for such talks."

"You surely must have been in love at least once in your life, right?" the other continued questioning him.

"Hm…"

"Come on, tell me," Aiba asked, persistent, earning another sigh.

"Fine fine, I'll tell you...,” more to shut up his friend than to actually give him the information he desired, Nino finally gave in. “So, there was a college friend. We played in the same band for a while... Satisfied?"

"And?" the other looked at him with big curiosity. "How did it go? Did you get together?"

"No," Nino answered, averting his eyes. "He married his college girlfriend three years ago…"

"Oh… too bad, I'm sorry that it didn't work out," Aiba said, honest disappointment showing through his comment, causing his friend to giggle.

"You're strange. If you are really interested in me, you wouldn't be sorry that I'm not in a relationship now with my former crush," he pointed out.

"Well, it's a good thing for me, but a bad thing for you, right? So I'm sorry for you," Aiba said honestly, before he stopped short, frowning. "Ah… wait, it was a _"he"_?"

"You're really slow."

"So you actually _are_ into guys?!" the taller asked, excited, another wide smile adorning his face as he saw his chance coming.

"I never said I am _not_ ," Nino admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

"But… you don't want to date me?" his friend asked, pointing at his own chest. "Why?! What's the problem if you're into guys?"

"I'm not into _you_ , my friend, _that_ is the problem."

Aiba sighed before he giggled sheepishly. "You're so direct, really charming. Am I not handsome enough for you?"

"You definitely are handsome and you know that," Nino answered immediately.

"Thanks, you're cute when you're being honest," the other smiled cutely.

"Are you kidding me?"

Aiba shook his head. "However, if you are not into me yet, I will _make_ you, trust me!" He earned another critical look from his friend.

"I think, I'll pass, thank you," Nino turned him down.

"Nino, please, give me a chance!"

"Don't wanna," the younger insisted.

"Are you still in love with your crush from college?" Aiba then asked bluntly, causing the other to stare at him, shocked.

Nino didn't answer and just looked at Aiba, blanking before he found his composure. "What?!" he frowned. "I'm no-"

"I can make you forget him!" his friend blurt out, grabbing Nino's hands and looked into his eyes, causing him to blush a little again. This was just too embarrassing!

"Don't joke with me, Aiba, I mean it. Shut up now," Nino said and pulled his hands away.

"What if I promise to buy you a new set of guitar strings – the good ones - and that I'm the one paying for all our dates? I'll even invite you to a high class restaurant, if you want to!" the other suggested for a deal and seemingly, he didn't do that bad with it, making the other arch an interested eyebrow at him for the first time since the start of their conversation.

"Really?" Nino asked after a moment of hesitation.

"Really!" Aiba nodded, enthusiastically.

"… And I can order whatever I want?"

"Of course!" another nod.

"No matter how expensive?"

"Sure!"

Nino still seemed hesitant but then, he sighed. "…OK, then."

"What, really?" Aiba asked surprised. "So we're having a date?"

"You will pick me up and bring me back home," the other stated further conditions.

"I'll be a gentleman, just like you wish," Aiba just agreed happily.

Then the other pointed a finger at him, accompanied by a strict look. "We're _not_ going to kiss or anything, it's just dinner, you get me?"

Aiba frowned, obviously disappointed about these preceding limitations. "Just dinner? What's the difference to our usual outings then?"

"Aiba, I warn you. Just dinner or I'll call our _date_ off, immediately."

"Oh, guys…," they both turned their heads surprised, when Mao passed them, hiding an amused smirk behind her hand.

"Alright, just dinner," Aiba accepted once the young woman left again. "Tonight?"

"How impatient!" Nino stated, astonished. "No, make it Friday."

Aiba seemed disappointed again, tilting his head and pouting like a child. "Why? Aren’t you free tonight?"

His friend rolled his eyes. "I indeed have plans, fancy that!"

"A date with another guy?"

"Idiot, I have to do grocery shopping and a bit housework once in a while."

"You'd surely make a good wife, Nino," Aiba said, nodding in appreciation.

"Oh shut up, Aiba!"

  
~*~*~

The week went by faster than expected and even if Aiba had tried to get out from his friend where exactly he wanted to go, Nino amusingly just kept him in the dark about his plans for their _date_. He would tell him, once Aiba picked him up, he repeated that over and over and already the other feared that Nino would want to try that new fancy foreign steak house that just opened a few weeks ago in town. Everybody was talking about that restaurant.

They agreed on meeting in front of Nino's apartment on Friday night, so that Aiba could pick the other up, just as Nino had demanded in first place. Aiba, who had the afternoon off, spent hours in front of his bedroom mirror, trying out different outfits so that he would leave a good impression on his friend. The other only knew him in his usual clothes, jeans and T-shirt, with or without the dark green shop apron with the "Crescendo" logo on it, so he hoped to impress him a little. In the end, Aiba decided on a nice, dark blue pinstripe suit which he had once worn to a job interview, and a light blue necktie that his mother had given him as a Christmas present. So far he had only used it twice – for mentioned job interview and for his cousin's wedding.

After restyling his hair with a bit of hair wax, Aiba finally agreed with his own appearance and posed in front of the mirror to check his image. He reached out his hand as if he was about to offer a princess to help her down from her carriage and pretended to guide her to the entrance of some imaginary castle, a deep-voiced "After you" on his lips. He pulled a serious face, squinting his eyes a little, wondering if Nino would find this look sexy. He tried to wink – and failed. OK, so better not do that, Aiba made a mental note, clearing his throat.

Checking his watch, he – as so often - found himself a little late already and so he hurriedly grabbed his wallet and his keys that he had dropped on his bed before, and rushed out of his bedroom. Just when he had put on one shoe, he decided to go back once more, awkwardly jumping through the apartment on his still undressed foot, to snatch a few more bills from his secret pile in the sock's drawer – just in case.

He arrived five minutes late at Nino's apartment, running from the nearby subway station. The other was already waiting at the end of the staircase at the parking lot, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I'm sorry, Nino, I'm a little late," Aiba immediately apologized as soon as he reached him.

"Obviously," Nino just commented, glaring at him.

The other flashed him an apologetic smile to soothe his mood but when he looked at his date a bit closer, his smile got replaced by a surprised look.

"Eh, what's with that outfit, Nino?" Aiba asked wondering, pointing at his friend who was dressed in his usual clothes, looking like he just returned from work; blue jeans, a black hoodie, a baseball cap and his shoulder bag.

"Why?" Nino arched his eyebrow. "That should be _my_ line, what's with _that_ outfit?" he pointed at Aiba's pinstripe suit with an amused smirk dancing on his lips.

Aiba blushed and right now he wished he could hide somewhere. "I thought we should dress nicely since you wanted to eat out in a fancy restaurant," he said, making a justifying gesture at his outfit.

"I never said I'd like that," Nino said casually.

"But you asked if I'd pay for your most expensive order," Aiba defended himself.

"Right," Nino agreed, biting his lips, trying not to burst into laughter. "But I never said anything about fancy restaurants, that's just your own conclusion."

Aiba sighed, finally accepting that he just got mocked by his friend. He shouldn't be so surprised about that, actually. "Fine fine. So where are we going? Don't tell me you want to go to McDonalds."

"Certainly not. However, you'll see once we're there, let's go," Nino said, still amused. He turned on his heel, showing Aiba the way down the road.

At least, Aiba thought, Nino seemed to be in a better mood now, despite him being late.

TBC


	2. Small Ambitions

Only a few minutes after Aiba had picked up Nino for their dinner date, with Nino walking ahead of him, they arrived at their destination. Aiba blanked as he faced his date's choice and looked at him with big round eyes, questioning. Nino just shrugged his shoulders and lifted his eyebrows before he tugged his friend at the edge of his sleeve to make him move along and not stand there and gaping like an idiot. He went in, immediately heading toward a small table at the back of the restaurant by a window, with a nice view out into the backyard. Aiba just followed him, a bit embarrassed by the curious looks of the other customers as well as the staff who were nevertheless sending him smiles and polite phrases, as he passed them.

The "fancy restaurant" that Aiba had imagined as Nino's restaurant of choice, turned out to be just a casual family restaurant in the neighborhood – he seemed to be a regular here - and the "most expensive meal" was a burger set called "Hamburger Deluxe" consisting of a double sized main dish, salad, miso soup as appetizer and a small dessert, which Nino ordered right away with a big smile. Then he focused on Aiba, smirking, and the other blushed a little. Nino wasn't only highly amused by Aiba's stunned face when he realized where and what the young man actually wanted to eat, but also by the looks that the other customers of the family restaurant gave them – well, Aiba – since one of the couple was highly overdressed, as a matter of fact.

"Very funny, Nino, really," Aiba hissed, after they had ordered everything. He at least took off his jacket and loosened his accurately tied necktie a bit. Much better. Bending over the table, he then whispered, "You should have just told me that it's a misunderstanding when I picked you up. I could have borrowed some _normal_ clothes from you."

"I didn't think you would dress up like this," Nino giggled behind his hand. "And I'm sorry but I just couldn't tell you when you arrived like that, as it's so much more fun like this."

"For you, yes," Aiba pouted before he bowed a little at the waitress who brought Nino's coke and Aiba's banana milkshake. Of course, the girl didn't say anything but judging by her curious look, she must be wondering about the very opposite looking couple.

Once she was gone, the smirk on Nino's lips hadn't disappeared. He placed his elbows on the table and took a sip from his coke through the straw before he gave his friend his typical puppy eyes. "If it cheers you up, you look pretty good in suits."

"You think so?" Aiba asked, looking down at himself to check his appearance. Slightly embarrassed he brushed a strand of hair back behind his ear.

"Everyone thinks so," Nino said, leaning back again, his coke in his hands. He averted his eyes quickly, when Aiba looked at him with a happy smile.

"Am I being too positive or are you flirting with me right now, Nino?" the latter asked, raising his eyebrow challenging but still, Nino didn't look at him. He must be a little embarrassed too, Aiba thought, finding his friend extraordinarily cute at that moment. Maybe, he could make use of that.

"No, I'm not. Stating facts isn't flirting," the other jumped from the ship before Aiba could really get on, ruining the mood immediately with his blunt statement.

Aiba sighed. Maybe, it wasn't as easy as he had imagined. "So you just want to make me feel better, because you feel guilty for mocking me," he sulked, slurping from his banana milkshake like an upset child.

Nino chuckled and finally looked up again. "Does it work?"

Aiba looked at him, locking eyes. Despite the awkwardness of their date so far, he still found Nino really cute and like always, he couldn't be upset at him for long, anyway. He tilted his head, taking another sip from his milkshake which he was holding with both hands. "Hm… maybe a little bit…"

For a small awkward moment, the two guys just looked at each other, each of them holding the straw of their drink between their lips, sipping from them. So this was it. Their _first date_ , Aiba thought. He had to admit, he wasn't really sure if this was a good start – probably not – and he was a little surprised, that Nino was even willing to play along. Aiba had expected a pouty, grumpy Nino but instead he got the shy, cute one. Not that he would complain, but maybe, he was reading too much into it. Most likely, Nino was just grateful for the treat for dinner. However, it was undoubtedly different compared to their usual outings. It was… more awkward. Nino must feel the same, since he finally averted his eyes again, as if losing a staring contest.

"Want to have my dessert later on? I'm not that much into sweets after all," he then broke the silence.

Aiba gaped at him, wondering. "Eh? I thought you wanted the Deluxe menu _because_ of the dessert?"

"No," the other answered amused, stirring his drink with the straw, as if he was trying to drown some ice cubes. "I just wanted to order it once without wasting my money on something I wouldn't like."

"So you thought better waste _my_ money on something you wouldn't like?" Aiba concluded, chuckling.

Nino pointed at him with his straw. "If you want to put it like that… _or_ you could see it as a nice gesture that I'm giving you my dessert. _You_ like sweets after all."

"Why did you even want to order it in first place if you don't eat half of it?"

"It is a matter of principle, you know?" Nino said, crossing his arms. "I wanted it – I got it. I can satisfy my ambition."

"A _really small_ ambition," his date dared pointing out.

"There's nothing wrong with little goals in life, right?" Nino asked, pouting cutely.

"I don't know if you're stubborn or sweet right now," Aiba smirked as his heart jumped a little. "But you're definitely right."

"See?" Nino nodded. "So, you want it or not?"

"Of course, I do!" Aiba smiled. Indeed, he liked sweet things. No, maybe, he was already loving them.

First it had felt really strange to go on a _date_ with his friend, Nino thought. It was embarrassing and somehow unnecessary. It wasn't a typical date, they didn't have to get to know each other first, since they knew each other for more than two years now and so it most likely was just natural that they fell into their usual conversation habits once in a while. But from time to time, Nino really felt like he was on a date with Aiba. Maybe, because the other tried so hard to be even nicer than usual (not that Nino could have imagined this was even possible, since Aiba was the nicest guy he had ever met) or because they are, slowly but surely, also starting to approach other topics than usual. More _private_ stuff than usual, not only music and baseball. Or, because Aiba at the end tried to make Nino taste at least one bite of the dessert the other gave him - with the same spoon. The younger only let Aiba feed him, because the latter was being annoying and the waitress was already observing them with a smirk from the other end of the room, and he didn't want to draw even more attention. He had to admit though, that the dessert didn't taste as bad as he had expected and when Aiba gave him another spoon, he didn't refuse it.

It was embarrassing, true, but it was also pretty nice to be on a _date_ , Nino found. Even if he still found Aiba's idea of _deciding to fall in love_ a little stupid, and still didn't get why he had actually chosen him for this… well… test, he also thought that he should enjoy the evening as much as possible. Mao, who he had asked for advice two days ago if he really should go on the date with Aiba, had been right, once in a while, it was nice to go out and see someone trying hard to please you. And Aiba really gave his best in this aspect.

A couple of hours later, Aiba tried to steal a small good night kiss from Nino when he brought him back home. However, Nino just put his hand onto Aiba's lips to stop him and the latter ended up kissing his fingertips. It tickled Nino, causing a little goose bump and a twitching little smile at the corners of his lips and so he quickly drew back his fingers, while taking a step backward too, just in case.

"I don't kiss on the first date, forget it," Nino made clear, looking at his friend, suddenly pulling a strict face. "That was one of my conditions after all, remember?"

Aiba tilted his head and bit his lip, frowning. "Ah, come on, Nino, it's just a tiny little good night kiss. It will satisfy a small ambition."

"You think, you're clever, right?" the younger chuckled before he returned to his strict look. "But I said, no. Not on the _first_ date."

Aiba pouted and wanted to complain but then, he suddenly caught up, his mood brightening up. He smirked. "Wait… are you implying that we will go on a second date?"

"You're slow," Nino murmured, and blushed slightly as he looked sideward, trying to hide it by rubbing his nose.

Aiba's radiating smile almost lightened up the whole parking lot.

~*~*~

"I didn't know that you two are dating, when did you start?"

"Eh?" Nino, getting interrupted in watching Aiba and Ken's enthusiastic darts match, turned his head, looking at a smirking Ohno Satoshi, the owner and bar keeper of the "Little Mackerel".

The group of friends had decided to get some beers at their favorite izakaya nearby after the closing hour of the “Crescendo“, and like always, Nino's two colleagues had found one or another way of competing with each other in some sort of game.

"You and Aiba-san, I mean," the bar keeper smiled and nodded toward Aiba's direction.

Nino blushed a little and scratched his neck, embarrassed. "I… what… you can tell?"

"It's pretty obvious," Ohno's wife, Yui, chimed in with a friendly smile. She formed a small heart mark with her hands before she took Nino's glass to refill it. "He's waving at you each time he threw a dart and you're waving back shyly, you two are so cute, really!"

"We only had _one_ date, it's nothing serious," the young man murmured, waving it off and quickly took the fresh beer to gulp down half of it in one go.

At this moment, Nino swore to himself, to ignore Aiba's stupid waving for the rest of the evening. So embarrassing! And when did he even wave back? Maybe one time but…

"I know, he's your _number one fan_ , but since you give off those lonely wolf vibes, I thought that his adoration toward you will stay one-sided. I'm a little surprised, how did he ask you out?" Ohno kept on asking, curiously. He turned the fish he was grilling, but didn't take his eyes off of his regular customer.

"Oh, it was _very_ romantic," Nino started, the sarcastic undertone not to be ignored. "You know, his cousin married recently and he got pretty envious. So he _decided_ to fall in love and picked _me_ as… I don't know, his experiment, I guess?" Nino said, placing his chin on his hand.

A critical frown. "And you agreed?"

"I… didn't have anything better to do, he offered to pay the bills of our outings and promised to buy me new guitar strings, I thought it's not a bad deal," Nino answered to defend himself, earning a loud laughter by the bar keeper. "Hey, what's so funny?"

"Ah, nothing," Ohno answered, putting the grilled fish from the cooking grill and placed it on a small white plate before handing it to his wife to serve it to its destined customer. "I just thought that it's a strange basis to start dating."

"I didn't want to!" Nino protested. "But he was so fucking persistent…"

"He can be pretty convincing, I guess," Ohno chuckled. "He has that charm."

"Yeah, somehow… I guess if anybody else had asked me, I wouldn't have given in," the young man answered, looking down at the bottom of his half empty glass.

"So how is it going, do you like him?" the bar keeper asked.

"I don't hate him," Nino answered.

"Do you _like_ him?" the izakaya's owner asked again.

"Well, yeah, since he's my best friend?"

"That's not the answer to my question and you know that," the other pointed out.

Nino chuckled and gulped down the rest of his beer. "Since when are we talking about love matters, anyway, Ohno-san?"

"Since you and Aiba-san are dating, which is at least as surprising as our topic right now."

"Hah… well, I guess I should just keep on seeing this as an experimental phase of our friendship," Nino said, making some strange movement with his hand, he didn't know himself what it was supposed to be. "I'm here to show him that his idea is stupid. Once he found out that you can't _decide_ to fall for someone and the other will not just magically fall in love in return, he'll give up and we'll get back to normal."

"You guys are strange," Ohno chuckled again, shaking his head slightly. "But as long as nobody gets hurt…"

"Don't worry," Nino interrupted him. "Nobody will get hurt."

The "Little Mackerel"'s owner hummed. "Good, then. I wish you both good luck, nevertheless!"

"Yes, me too, you're so cute together, a really good match!" Yui smiled at him again as she brought Nino another refill of his drink, slightly patting his shoulders.

"Uhm… thanks?" Nino wasn't so sure if this was the correct answer and preferred concentrating on his beer.

Considering the conversation as finished, he then turned around again, to check on Aiba and Ken, who were still competing in their serious match. It looked like Ken had taken the lead. At least that was what Nino deciphered from Aiba's troubled face and the whining "Ken-chan"s that he could hear from his friend.

He jumped up from his high stool, taking his beer with him and nodding a last time toward Ohno before he went to join the other two, asking Ken for the current score. Indeed, the small man was leading by quite some points and so Nino reached out his hand to pat Aiba's shoulder, in order to comfort him. When the other grabbed his hands, thanking him for his support and smiled at him happily, Nino had to ignore the warm feeling that suddenly spread through his whole body, until the wave of heat made his heart beat a bit faster. He pulled back his hands, smiling at Aiba a bit sheepishly before cheering with his beer, but the quick heartbeat stayed for a while, confusing him.

_"This is just an experimental phase of our friendship,"_ Nino repeated in his head. _"Once he found out that you can't decide to fall in love with someone, things will get back to normal…"_

Nino's heart did something strange and he frowned, wondering what it was.

_"Nobody will get hurt,"_ the voice in his head told him while he was rubbing his chest slightly.

~*~*~

Nino had to admit that he had become a little hesitant about another date with Aiba, even if it had been him – more or less - who had suggested to go on a second one in first place. But the young man had thought about the whole thing and somehow, he found that Ohno was right. What he and Aiba were doing was strange. They didn't even really _like_ each other – well, at least not in _that_ way - so why should they date each other and force something that wasn't even existing? Nino had known right from the start, Aiba's idea had been stupid and he shouldn't have let him convince him to join that silly game. For some reason, Nino didn't feel like playing along any longer and so he decided to drop out, the sooner the better.

However, Aiba was still his persistent self – which really could be a charm but not in situations like these - and tried to set up another appointment with Nino for their second date, just to find himself being turned down again and again. The energetic man tried his best to convince his friend again, bringing him coffee, buying him ramen and throwing around compliments that made the other blush. He tried to invite Nino on a date to the amusement part – the classic – but the young man refused. Cinema? Refused. What about another dinner? Ah yeah, Mao and Ken surely wanted to come along too.

To sum it up, it was frustrating for Aiba and this went to the extent of him going to Mao to complain and lament about his fruitless efforts. To his surprise, Mao seemed to be in a pretty good mood lately and so she lent a really friendly ear for his sorrows, which was pretty seldom, to be honest. After they met for dinner to talk about Aiba's problems, she even said that she might have something that could help him and asked him to wait a few days.

It took just two more days to find out the reason behind all this, when Mao came to work and immediately approached Aiba and Nino who were preparing behind the counter for a new working day.

"I have to make an announcement," the girl said proudly, her face delighted, much cuter than her usual gloomier look. She hopped from one foot to the other, seemingly nervous – in a good way – and waited until one of her friends finally asked.

"What announcement?" in the end, it was Nino, whose curiosity won.

Mao smiled again, biting her lips and suppressed a joyful giggle as she lifted her hand and showed it to the two men – a thin, beautiful silver ring shining on her ring finger.

"Oh my God!" Aiba blurted out, clasping his hands onto his mouth. "Mao-chan!"

"Is this…," Nino asked the obvious, pointing at the ring, stunned.

The girl nodded excited. "It's an engagement ring, yes!"

"Your boyfriend finally asked you?" Aiba reached out his hands, taking Mao's in his and shook them while both of them jumped up and down in excitement. "Congratulations!"

"So he finally got his guts together," Nino smiled, quoting Mao's words from some time ago. "I bet, you're overjoyed. I'm happy for you!"

"Thank you, guys, I'm really the happiest girl in the world right now. To be honest, he asked me last weekend, but he wanted me to keep it secret, so I couldn't tell you."

"Why so secretive?" Nino wondered.

"Well… to be honest, my boyfriend is a celebrity and we had to keep our relationship hidden for years. But now, he finally convinced the management of his agency to let him marry and so… Believe me, I was _dying_ to tell you!" she made a dramatic face.

"That explains the sudden good mood," Nino said, more to himself than to someone in particular, earning a smack on the head by his female colleague.

"May I ask _who_ this celebrity is?" Aiba of course had to ask and Mao looked at him critically, making him promise to not tell anybody else - _anybody_ \- which he of course promised immediately.

When the young woman quickly searched through the music magazines that lined a shelf next to the counter and finally picked one of them, to bring them to the two men's attention, they both couldn't believe it. She pointed at a man on the cover of one of the most popular music magazines in Japan. A well-known, well-built man with dark brown hair, beautiful lips and dominant eye-brows, winding his half naked body around the neck of a brand new Gibson. The two men gaped at the magazine cover, than at their colleague and back at the cover, in surprise.

"Wait, Mr. Fucking Sexy Supermodel Matsumoto Jun is _your_ boyfriend?!" Nino asked in disbelief, earning another smack by his co-worker.

"That's so freaking cool, Mao-chan! You make such a good-looking couple," the other man said, getting rewarded with a happy smile and a cute "Thank you" by the young woman.

Then, Aiba couldn't hold back any longer, asking Mao about all the details of the proposal. The young woman started telling them a really adventurous story about a romantic weekend in a hut in the mountains, an almost-bear-attack and finally the proposal of her boyfriend when they reached the top of a mountain after a whole day of climbing. He had literally fallen on his knees, asking her to marry him while the world seemed to be underneath her feet. Nino was impressed, even if he had to pull himself together trying not to laugh at his imagination of seeing Japan's male supermodel running away from a bear, and Aiba was giddy with excitement over just _everything_ about it while Mao's radiating smile filled the room.

"However," she finally concluded. "We want to invite you two to our engagement party."

"What? Really?" Aiba asked excitedly.

"Of course! And we want you two to come to our party _together_."

"Together?" Nino asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, as a couple."

"Oh come on, are you kidding me?" her co-worker complained immediately pointing from Mao to Aiba and back again. "Did you two plot this? You're in cahoots with each other? Is the story about you and the supermodel even real?"

"Since I'm a friendly person, I will ignore your last comment now. Come on, Nino-kun, you two are really cute together, I think you should give Aiba-kun one more chance," Mao said in a pleading voice.

"I think so too!" Aiba agreed, nodding wildly.

Nino sighed, crossing his arms as he pursed his lips. "Aiba, look... you're a nice guy and I like you but, I'm not sure if something like _that_ works between us."

"There I thought I got you and then you're again playing hard to get!" the other said, scratching his head as if he was thinking hard. "Then let's make a bet!" Aiba finally suggested.

"A bet?"

"Exactly!" Aiba said enthusiastically, pointing at Nino. "We'll play a game and if I win, you'll come with me to Mao-chan's party. As a couple. Our next date, so to say!"

"And if you lose?" Nino asked challenging.

"Then… you won't have to," his friend answered, not even thinking about putting something more on par, like for example offering Nino to stop trying to convince him.

Somehow, Nino already knew that it wouldn't help to argue against Aiba. That guy could be awfully stubborn, that much he knew already. "So...What kind of game?"

"We'll play catch ball!"

Nino blanked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, why not?" Aiba asked, bloody serious.

"OK, you know, you have no chance against me in catch ball," Nino said, bragging. He had been part of the baseball club during Junior High School and High School and he didn't want to talk big but he had been a pretty good catcher.

"We'll see!"

"Oh, that's so stupid…," Nino murmured, but he had already accepted the challenge.

Aiba grinned satisfied, putting his hands on his hips. "You have the afternoon off tomorrow right? I'll pick you up after I finished my shift and we'll settle this like real men."

"Real men playing catch ball, sure…," more like two kids trying to act big.

"Too bad that I'm on late-shift tomorrow, I'd love to play referee, guys," Mao laughed.

"So? Are you going to back off?" the taller guy reached out to ruffle Nino's hair who ducked down trying to escape.

"Of course not!" he grumbled, readjusting his hair, even if it was more messy than anything else anyway.

"So it's decided!"

"Good luck, Aiba-kun! I'm awaiting good results from the love-front!" Mao said, making a fighting pose that Aiba mirrored joyfully.

"Someone tell me, why I agreed to this. I must be stupid," Nino sighed again and shaking his head. What had he gotten himself into?!

~*~*~

The next day, Nino barely finished an early dinner snack and grabbed his guitar and pen to draft a new song, when the doorbell to his apartment rang. Of course, it was Aiba, and he must have been running from the train station, he was out of breath.

"Here I am!" the guy said as he leaned against the doorway, panting.

"Not that I really had been waiting for you," Nino just murmured, opening the door wide to let in his friend. He offered Aiba a glass of water and allowed him to sit down on the couch for a moment to catch his breath. "You're still up to that bet?"

"Of course, I am!" Aiba exclaimed, thankfully taking the glass of water from Nino. "I will keep my words and I hope, you will too, once I beat you!"

When Aiba had recovered a bit, they went out, Nino taking a baseball and a glove with him that he always had ready in the living room. Aiba had brought his own glove, so they were both well-equipped. It was getting a little dark outside but the lights lining the streets gave enough light in addition to the dusky atmosphere. Just a small stroll away from Nino's apartment, the two guys reached an empty grass patch by a small river, an ideal place to fight their _match_.

Nino still didn't believe that this was going to happen, until Aiba started jumping up and down and bending his body to warm up. Yes, his friend seemed deadly serious about this. He ran a few steps and then turned to Nino, waving at him and telling him that he should get ready too so that they could start. The younger man readjusted his baseball cap and murmuring to himself he finally started warming up too, a bit, just in case he had to become serious. He knew from their talks, that Aiba must be pretty good at sports and he had to admit that he himself hadn’t played in a while, he didn't even exercise, too busy with music all the time.

The rules of the game were simple and as baseball fans they knew them by heart since this little game was what every baseball loving young boy would first learn together with his parents or friends. In turns they would throw and catch the balls, trying to make it hard for the other to actually get it and the first who dropped the ball to the ground would be the loser of that respective round.

"Are you ready?" Aiba yelled from the other side of the field.

He was holding up the baseball with one hand and when Nino yelled back that he _was_ ready, Aiba threw the first ball at him, fast, precise, and with more force than Nino had expected. Nino could barely catch the ball with his glove – he was flabbergasted. Damned, he thought, he really might have to take this seriously. Frowning, Nino threw the ball, with all his might, just to find Aiba catching the ball without any problem. The hell?!

"Best two out of three?" Nino asked, yelling and Aiba agreed.

Nino had to run and jump to get the next balls while Aiba didn't seem to have any trouble at all. On the contrary, no matter how far and how hard to get Nino threw his balls, Aiba was fast as the wind, his long legs bringing him from one end of the grass patch to the other and he even prevented a sharp ball of Nino from getting thrown into the water. Quickly, Nino had lost two rounds in a row, letting the ball drop and causing Aiba to cheer joyfully.

"Uhm... best three out of five?" the younger then suggested, searching for an excuse. "I hadn’t warmed up enough!"

Aiba looked at him wondering but then he just shrugged and agreed to Nino's conditions. Playing extra serious, Nino actually managed to win the next round, this time almost causing Aiba to fall into the river for real. But then, it became critical again and just when the young man almost lost the ball again, he had enough of this.

"You're playing unfair!" Nino complained in a loud voice. "I don't know how, but you're playing unfair!"

He indeed didn't know, because in fact, there was nothing wrong with Aiba's play. It was just that Nino hated to lose and seeing his old pride of being his High School team's best catcher drifting away in the blink of an eye, driven off the shelf by a simply cheerful Aiba, wasn't part of his plan. Especially not when it meant that he would lose their stupid bet, ending up demonstrating their strange, fake _relationship_ in front of lots of strangers, including supermodel Matsumoto.

"Don't talk such crap, Nino, I'm playing fair!" Aiba protested chuckling, gesturing his friend to throw the ball again. "Come on now, I have to win a bet!"

But Nino didn't listen and instead, started running away into the opposite direction, the ball in his hand. It didn't take long before Aiba realized what was going on and he immediately started running too, trying to catch up with Nino. The younger quickly found out that Aiba was indeed pretty fast, and most likely, his stamina would beat Nino's too. In moments like these – not that they took place that often, actually – Nino cursed himself for not exercising his body properly. When Aiba caught up to him, faster than expected, Nino started using his reflexes, which weren't that bad actually, trying to trick his friend. With flexible movements, he managed to escape the other a couple of times and he laughed joyfully when he heard the other cursing and yelling behind him, wanting him to stop this childish behaviour once and for all.

A normal adult who would see those two fooling around like kids at the moment, would shake his head in disbelief once he heard that they were actually grown-up men. However, their playful chase didn't last too long, since Nino quickly started to lose his breath and so soon it was an easy game for Aiba to catch up to him. In the end, he caught the young man by his hoodie, making him stumble and since he himself was still in the middle of running, it wasn't surprising that the two guys ended up tumbling over each other onto the ground, Aiba toppling over a screaming Nino until they faced each other in a lying position.

Nino's back was pressed onto the soft grass, which had taken a grey color from the falling night, his heartbeat was racing from the physical strain. Aiba had stopped on top of him. His hands at the right and left of Nino's face, the man had just prevented them from knocking their heads together, but nevertheless, they ended up with their faces pretty close to each other.

"You dropped the ball," Aiba pointed out and Nino could feel his friend's warm, panting breath against his cheeks. He smelled like peppermint, a scent that he really liked. "That means, I won and you have to accompany me to Mao-chan's engagement party as my date..."

Maybe Aiba was a bit _too_ close, Nino thought, chuckling nervously. His heartbeat didn't want to calm down. He looked up into his friend's eyes, falling silent. He could still see the outlines of his face and the light of the streetlights nearby made his eyes shine a little. He had to admit that at this very moment, there was something magical about this view, something that drew him in...

It just happened then, that Aiba leaned a tiny little bit forward quickly, too fast for Nino to react, too close, confusing his senses, and stole a little kiss from the other. He placed his lips on Nino's just for a few seconds, just long enough for Nino to take notice about how incredibly warm and soft Aiba's lips felt. Just long enough for Nino to taste the sweetness of that little kiss mixed with Aiba's peppermint breath, making him feel dizzy for a moment...

Then, just as quickly as Aiba had brought their lips together, he drew back again, staring at Nino, who was now holding his breath from the sudden action, shocked. Aiba didn't move and just continued staring at his friend, an awkward silence embracing them.

"…Oi, a kiss wasn't part of the deal," Nino finally murmured in a low voice, still lying underneath Aiba.

The other blinked, but didn't make a move to get up from their awkward position.

"I'm sorry, you just looked so adorable, I couldn't hold back…," he whispered, still facing Nino with a serious look. Then he got up again, freeing Nino from his weight and changing the atmosphere with an amused chuckle. "Ah… and it's our second date, so you actually should be OK with it, right?" he asked, pointing at Nino.

Nino got up too and nervously pretended wiping some dirt off his pants with maybe a bit more force than necessary. "This isn't even a _date_ ," he blabbered, averting Aiba's eyes. "We're just playing catch ball!"

"Oh, _I_ count it as a _baseball date_ ," Aiba said cheerfully.

"Idiot…," Nino murmured, finally wiping his lips with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"You're really complaining about a little _kiss_? You even wiped it away, seriously?" his friend asked protesting.

Nino blushed, Aiba examining his reaction, amused.

"Oh, I see…," the older concluded, getting a few steps closer to Nino again. "Actually, you _liked_ it!"

"I didn't!" Nino said, trying to sound upset.

"You're so shy! So cute!" Aiba laughed, a wide smile adorning his face.

"I'm not!"

"Oh come on, stop denying it!" Aiba said, slightly punching Nino's upper arm.

The younger just pouted cutely, blushed even more and stomped away, heading back home, followed by his friend, but totally ignoring him, no matter what he was going to say. So this was, how Aiba won their bet and the two of them ended their second _date_ with a good night kiss. Well, sort of.

~*~*~

A few days later it was Nino's turn for the late shift and so, after a long day of work, he was finally the last one in the "Crescendo". He appreciated the few last hours of loneliness, there hadn't been many customers during the late hours fortunately and so he could go after his thoughts just like he wanted to. Recent events had really messed him up, he had to admit, and especially they had messed up with his feelings toward his friend Aiba. If he had first seen him just as his best friend, seeing him like that had become pretty hard lately. It wasn't like Nino intended to actually fall in love with Aiba, he would rather prove his friend wrong about his stupid plans about falling in love, but he had to admit that this was easier said than done. Aiba was charming, that was for sure, and even if Nino would rather die than tell the other, he finally started to enjoy the other's affection sincerely and yes, maybe he even had enjoyed that unexpected little kiss just a few days ago a little bit. However, he was wondering where this would lead them, and concluded, that it would surely not lead to anything good.

Sighing, Nino did the cash-check, made a few preparations for the next day, checked that he didn't forget to switch out all the lights and then he was outside, pulling the door close and locking up, calling it a day.

"Nino?" He didn't count on it at all, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him – familiar but hadn’t been heard for a long time - that caused his heart to freeze for a moment. A familiar chuckle followed. "I can't believe it, it's you?"

Nino turned around, slowly, and as expected, he found just _that_ one person that out of all the people in the world he really didn't want to meet right now, standing behind him, flashing him one of his typical, cute, and happy smiles, sincerely surprised by the unexpected encounter. Nino gulped down a huge lump forming in his throat and then pulled in some air sharply, realizing that he had just forgotten to breathe for a moment.

His heart started beating again. Much too fast and suddenly he felt thrown back at least three years, to his college days.

"Sho-kun?"

TBC


	3. Old Friends and Good Night Kisses

“Sho-kun?”

No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Nino did _not_ need this now, he did _not_ need to meet his old crush now when he was so confused already about the whole thing with Aiba recently. How the hell did he end up in this situation, what did he do wrong in his previous life to deserve this?!

Well, that was what Nino's brain was screaming out in despair at the moment he met his old college friend Sakurai Sho in front of the shop, unexpectedly. His heart though didn't seem to fully agree, beating quickly to remind him of the delight he was feeling too, seeing his friend again after so long, even if accompanied by a slightly bad conscience. He hadn't contacted the other in a while and surely the one at fault for their long separation.

"Oh my gosh, Nino, it's really you!" the other man exclaimed joyfully and it didn't take long when he stepped closer, giving the other a spontaneous hug. Nino's movement froze while his heartbeat reached a new level. He could smell the familiar odor of his friend, mixed with a slight scent of beer. "I can't believe it! How long has it been?"

"Long…," Nino murmured.

" _Too_ long," Sho agreed, nodding and let go off Nino again, looking at him from head to toes. "Let me take a look at you! You look good, how are you doing?"

"Uhm… fine…," Nino said shyly, blushing as the other looked at him that thoroughly. Sho chuckled happily. At least he didn't seem to be mad at Nino, the other thought, for not keeping contact and such…

Nino looked at him, still stunned and slightly strained from the situation. He took in the picture of his old friend whom he didn't see in… yeah… almost three years. He still looked like the Sho back in college, just that he had exchanged his flashy shirts with a nifty business suit and his backpack with rock-band patches with an elegant briefcase. His hair was a bit shorter and straighter and his face a bit more defined but his friendly smile was still the same as always. Nino gulped. Sho still looked gorgeous. So fucking gorgeous...

"Are you working here?" Sho asked the obvious, pointing at the "Crescendo".

"Ah, yes…. And what are _you_ doing here, is your work nearby?" Nino answered.

"Hm… not that near but I came here with a colleague and he recommended an izakaya in this area. We wanted to try their famous fish dishes. But my friend just got called home by his wife and so I wanted to go alone, since I'm here already after all. Although, I guess, I got lost...," Sho explained.

"Ah!" Nino widened his eyes as the description of his friend's choice rang a bell. "Maybe, you mean the _"Little Mackerel"_?"

Sho looked at him, wondering. "You heard about it?"

"Actually, my friends and I are regulars there.”

"Ah, is that so?" the other nodded his head in understanding. Then he put his arm around Nino's shoulder, grinning at him. "Well then, why don't you join me?"

The smaller smiled sheepishly, searching for a good excuse to turn down the invitation. To be honest, Nino didn't feel like going out with his old friend right now. Not with those feelings welling up inside his chest again after so many years. "Sho-kun… it's pretty late already and I have to get up early tomorrow…"

"Oh come on Nino, just one beer?" his friend suggested, obviously not letting a "no" count. "For old time's sake! It's been so long since we had a proper talk!"

Nino sighed. He looked at Sho. Thought about how much he had missed him. His smile, the sound of his voice, their talks about music and the time they had spent together in the same band. "Just… one beer."

Sho beamed with joy. "Deal!"

~*~*~

"Ninomiya-san, good evening. Oh, not with Aiba-san today?" the owner of the "Little Mackerel" asked immediately when Nino and his former college companion settled down at the bar.

"No, Ohno-san, this time I'm here with my old friend from college, Sakurai Sho-san," the young man replied, making an introducing gesture between the two men. "Sho-kun, Ohno-san is the owner of this place and be assured, his grilled mackerels are truly the best you will ever eat."

Sho nodded with a friendly greeting and then placed his briefcase on the high stool next to him, then took off his jacket and loosened the crimson tie around his white shirt's collar too. Nino averted his eyes from the slightly exposed neck a bit nervously, just to let Sho's hand fall into his field of vision, showing the silver ring on his finger. Reality hit him once again.

"I guess, I'll go with a beer and grilled mackerels, then," Sho said convinced, pulling Nino out of his thoughts.

"Ah, yeah, good choice," he answered, ordering two sets and a serving of edamame to share between the two of them. Not that he was actually hungry but better to have something to focus on during their talk. It would at least calm down his nervousness a little – hopefully.

Yui immediately served the beer and edamame, giving Nino a slightly critical glare that the other didn't know how to answer or even how to interpret. Sho lifted his glass for a small toast with his old companion, smiling cheerfully. Nino gulped down half of his beer in one go after clinking glasses, earning an amused chuckle by his friend.

"So, how's it going at work, are you still at that publishing company?" Nino asked to start the conversation.

Sho nodded, reaching for an edamame. "Yes, and to be honest, I just got promoted to chief editor recently."

"Oh, that's pretty cool, congratulations!" Nino gave him a sincere smile.

"Thank you," the taller said proudly. "And how about you? Since when are you working at the music shop?"

"Since two and a half years ago."

"Full time?"

"Yes."

"You like it there?" Sho asked smiling.

Nino nodded. "Yeah, I really do."

"Sounds nice, so you could fulfill your dream and get a job connected with music," the other took another sip of his beer, looking at the serving of edamame to take another one.

"Well, yeah you can say so."

There was a short period of silence and they listened to the alluring noises of Ohno's grilling before Sho picked up their conversation again. "Are you still meeting with the old band members?"

Nino shook his head slightly, remembering the bunch of buddies he and Sho had belonged to during college days, hanging out together and covering different music for their enjoyment. It had been great but unfortunately, their connections more or less broke apart when they graduated. Nino had to admit that he was at fault too, since he had used the occasion of graduation to distance himself a little from Sho and his girlfriend, not being able to cope with the situation as well as he had wanted. A few random outings and the wedding of the couple most likely were the only occasions at which they had met afterwards, but then their meetings had gradually stopped.

"No, not really, since we got spread all over the country and everyone is busy – surely you know what I mean," Nino earned an agreeing nod from the other man.

Sho pursed his lips. "It's a pity though, it was so much fun. And you were all so talented guys…," he said. "Are you still playing the guitar? I thought, you'd become a professional one day."

Nino blushed. "Uhm… to be honest, I'm going solo at the moment. I started writing my own songs and even did a small recording recently..."

The other gaped at him. "Eh, really? You've become an indie artist?"

"Yeah…"

"And I must say, he's really good!" the bar keeper chimed in as he finally served his two guests their mackerels.

"Thanks, Ohno-san," Nino said sheepishly, for the compliment as well as the fish.

Sho took his plate with the mackerels thankfully with both hands and commented appreciatively about the fabulous look and smell before he focused on Nino again, totally drawn by the music topic right now. "That's pretty cool, why hadn’t I heard about that yet? I'm happy for you! Now I'm really curious I always loved your guitar playing and your voice!"

When Sho smiled, Nino was ready to melt and so he dropped his look onto his own plate, staring at his meal, murmuring a reply, a bit embarrassed. "Thanks. I'm not really popular yet or anything… but I can give you one of my CDs, if you want to. It might be pretty amateurish though…"

"Don't pull it down before I even listened to it! I'd love to give it a try," Sho laughed cheerfully and slapped Nino's shoulder. "Seriously, man, why didn't you tell me? I would love to talk to you about your creations."

"I'm sorry… I was so focused on it, I didn't really talk to anybody about it besides my co-workers," Nino tried to excuse himself before trying to turn the attention away from himself. This was just too embarrassing. "What about you? Do you still sing?"

"Occasionally…," Sho muffled in between two bites of his grilled mackerel. "Oh my gosh, Ohno-san, this mackerel is _indeed_ the best I ever ate!"

"Thank you, Sakurai-san, if you want seconds, it will be on the house," the bar keeper answered happily, exchanging a proud smile with his wife behind the counter, who patted his shoulder lovingly.

"So, yes, I still do sing of course, but just for karaoke or at home, nothing serious," Sho said, resuming their topic.

"What a waste," Nino sighed and he meant what he said. As the lead singer of their band and a pretty talented rapper, he always had admired his friend deeply. But not everyone had the time, passion and willingness to dedicate his whole life to music. Some people, had other goals in life. "I guess having such a responsible job and a wife is pretty busy, isn't it?" he finally cut to the topic he had wanted to avoid the most. His heart started beating faster again. "No kids in sight yet?"

"To be honest, Maki and I are thinking about getting a divorce," Sho stated bluntly, taking another bite before he joyfully ordered the promised seconds, on the house, of Ohno-san's grilled mackerels.

"What?" Nino's heart stopped for a moment and he almost choked on his dinner.

"Yeah, you see… it didn’t work somehow," Sho frowned. "We're too different and recently she told me she got to know someone else. I wasn't even surprised, to be honest."

"Oh… I'm really sorry to hear that," Nino said but maybe he wasn't as sorry as he should have been in such a situation.

Sho waved his hand and flashed him another smile. "Ah well, I'm not that sad, you know? I'll get over it. I'm an end-of-20s, not-so-ugly, successful businessman and there are plenty cute ladies out there waiting for me, right?"

He was an end-of-20s, fucking gorgeous-looking, successful businessman and a wonderful hit for every women who'd be so lucky to become his new wife, Nino thought a bit frustrated, even if he tried to ignore it. "I guess…"

"Do you have a girlfriend, Nino?" Sho then asked casually.

"Eh?" immediately, Aiba popped up Nino's mind, confusing him even more. His heartbeat slowly but surely reached a dangerous level. "No… I don't," the younger replied. Well, Aiba wasn't his _girlfriend_ after all and Sho didn't know he was gay so…

"You sound a bit hesitant," Sho smirked. Of course he had heard the doubt in Nino's statement. "Dating someone currently?"

"Well… sort of," Nino finally admitted, tilting his head slightly. He was a bad liar after all. "Though, it's more a trial thing… But to be honest, I'm not really sure if it's going to work out, we started as friends, you know? It's a test, more or less." _That_ wasn't a lie…

"My best wishes. Hope it will turn out well," Sho said and smiled at his friend sincerely. "You might think that you need nothing else other than your music but once in a while it's nice to have someone to lean on, you know?"

Nino sighed, thinking about Aiba and his speech from that day when he asked him out for the first time. Aiba said that he wanted to fall in love, to find someone for a relationship. Yeah, even Aiba was searching for someone to trust, someone to lean on. But could it be as easy as he imagined? Nino was still not convinced about that. Not completely. Even if he had to admit that he started to agree with Aiba – and Sho – it really would be nice to have someone by his side. Nino blushed slightly, when he thought about his _dates_ with Aiba and the small kiss between them, about the excitement he had felt, again, about the confusion.

"Maybe you're right…"

Sho nudged Nino's side. "Don't be so gloomy, where's my old cheerful college friend?"

Looking at Sho, his thoughts still with Aiba, Nino suddenly felt just overwhelmed. This was his old crush sitting right next to him, telling him that he was getting divorced and they were talking about Nino's potential relationship with his best friend. His heart started aching strangely, and he didn't even know why exactly. Nino couldn't describe it, he couldn't even grasp this insane mixture of feelings he was experiencing right now. Suddenly, he just wanted to go home and hide underneath his blanket for the rest of the week.

"I'm sorry, I just have a little headache today," he said, attempting a little white lie to excuse his attitude. He let his look drop to his plate, the fish still only half finished. He didn't have any appetite any longer, no matter how delicious it was and how much he usually loved Ohno's cooking.

"I see, then I won't hold you back from going home too long, I'm sorry."

"No problem," Nino murmured. "It was just one beer, right?"

~*~*~

Somehow, Sho had managed to cheer Nino up a little – or at least distracted him – by telling him a few funny stories from his daily office life and so the one beer turned into three, despite Nino's faked headaches. About an hour later, the two men called it a day and together, they strolled to the nearest station to catch their trains home.

"Nino, why did we lose contact after college?" Sho suddenly asked out of the blue, hitting the soft spot in Nino's heart as they were waiting for the train to arrive. "I hate it when that happens with friendships."

"Getting busy, I guess?" the latter gave it a try, hoping that his lame excuse wouldn't get exposed right away.

"I thought so too at first but somehow, I can't get rid of the feeling that you were angry with me or something," Sho confessed. "Since we barely met and one day you even stopped answering my messages completely. I don't get it. If I did something wrong, I'm terribly sorry."

Nino blushed, getting a bit nervous. "Ah, no, no Sho-kun, it's nothing like that," at least nothing Nino could blame him for. "I… lost my phone once and I couldn't find the time to contact everyone to spread my new number. I was _really_ busy at that time. I'm sorry," the second white lie this evening left his lips. This wasn't going anywhere good, Nino thought.

"I see…," his friend looked at him, a bit critically. Maybe, he didn't buy it but then, he didn't show it. "Well, good that we met by chance, you can give me your new number now."

"Sure," Nino answered, unable to escape any longer and since Sho had already pulled out his phone, he finally did the same so that they could exchange numbers.

"Let's meet again for a drink soon, yeah?" Sho's question sounded more like a command than a suggestion. "I missed hanging out with you. And I definitely want to sing with you again at least in karaoke!"

"Sure," I missed hanging out with you too, Nino thought, but maybe it was better for him and his heart to not say it out loud and to get some distance between him and Sho again.

"Oh, and don't forget, you have to sell me one of your CDs! I insist on it!" his old friend said, pointing at Nino.

"I'll put one aside for you,” Nino smiled before his attention got drawn to the incoming train. “Ah, it's mine. I'm leaving first then," he said, waving at Sho as he stepped forward.

"Good Night, Nino, and see you soon!" Sho said, waving at him, smiling in response.

"Good Night, Sho-kun," the other murmured then as he hopped on the train.

When he turned around, Sho wasn't looking at him any longer – of course not, why should he? - but seemed to be playing with his phone. Nino's heart cringed slightly and he cursed himself for the mess in his chest. He searched his pockets for his MP3 player, putting on his favorite playlist and he let his mind drift off from the chaos in his head. Seriously, he should pull himself together…

  
~*~*~

When Nino arrived at home, it was almost midnight. He dropped his bag to the floor at the entrance area and after pulling off his shoes, kicked it though the corridor to the living/bed-room of his small but comfy apartment. He slumped down on his bed, feeling pretty down but he didn't cry, even if he felt frustrated enough. He rolled onto his back, darting his look at the ceiling, examining the light from his night stand lamp and the shadows forming a pattern.

The young man sighed heavily and remembered the happenings of the evening, his surprise to meet Sho again, the confusion the other put him through, the confusion that _Aiba_ was still putting him through, even if he wasn't even there. Nino wasn't sure what exactly he had felt during the outing with his old crush. Aiba had once asked him, if he was still in love with that guy from college that he had mentioned and Nino hadn't been able to answer the question. He _still_ wouldn't be able to answer the question. Of course, he had been nervous in Sho's presence, he had admired and secretly loved him for years but hadn't he given up on him a long time ago already? Of course, his heart beat faster at Sho's touch, triggering some old feelings. Of course, he had found him good-looking and sexy and of course, his heart had skipped a beat at his genuine smile.

But if Nino was completely honest with himself, the last two points didn't only apply to Sho, they also applied to Aiba. Further, even if he was still confused in Aiba's presence, he also felt warm and good around him. Maybe it was _that_ that frustrated Nino so much at the moment. The fact that not only Sho was still there in his heart somewhere but now, there was one more person, a pretty persistent person, a charming person, someone who wouldn't leave there that easily, despite Nino didn't even want him there in the first place.

Honestly, Nino was a bit scared. He wasn't ready for an old love or a new love, maybe he wasn't ready for love at all? But things happened and if he thought about it properly, wasn't it too late already for such fears? Was he already falling for Aiba? And what did this mean about his feelings for Sho? He couldn't have a crush on both of them, could he? Maybe, he was overrating things. Maybe, he didn't have a crush. Not on Sho any longer and of course – _least_ of all – not on Aiba.

"Damned Aiba…," Nino cursed whispering.

The young man then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, checking the screen but he found no incoming mail, and surprisingly he was a bit disappointed. In fact, it had became Aiba's habit to send Nino messages more frequently, especially in the evening. Even if Nino usually ignored those messages and didn't even bother considering to reply to them, he had somehow gotten used to the fact that there would be a cute good night message from Aiba on his phone whenever he went to bed. He checked it for a last time to set his alarm. He didn't want to admit it but the few nice words had made it easy for him to end the day and to fall asleep with a warm feeling in his chest for the past few days.

Combined with Nino's completely unsettled feelings at the moment, the absence of such a good night message frustrated him even more. He even let out a huge sigh, slamming his arms back onto his mattress and dropped his phone somewhere on the blanket as he continued staring at the ceiling of his room.

He seriously wondered why Aiba hadn't sent him a message tonight. Was he too busy for it? Had he fallen asleep already? Had he forgotten about it? Had he fallen sick? Or had he simply decided to stop sending Nino those messages since the other didn't reply properly anyway? Nino's heart cringed at this thoughts and he could slap himself for the sudden selfish thought of not seriously wanting Aiba to stop caring about him. He had gotten so used to it already, that even with one evening without a good night message, Nino had become desperate. How pathetic was that? He was such a mess lately, he didn't even _deserve_ Aiba's efforts or his cute messages. He was an idiot.

But even if Nino knew that he was an idiot, he somehow needed it right now, to feel good, to feel assured that there was somebody caring for him. And if he didn't get what he wanted, maybe he had to push it a little. Yes, this was how pathetic he had become but right now, Nino didn't care. He rolled around again, lying on his stomach and reached his hand to grab his phone. He pouted when he checked his incoming mails, once again, and was still not finding any good night message from Aiba, his _supposed to be boyfriend_ , and so, he decided to type a message by himself instead.

Nino hesitated for a moment and blushed a little before he sent out the e-mail. He had re-typed it three times, not knowing which would be the right tone to use and in the end, he settled on something typical for him, something... well, not so sweet, probably.

_[ To: Aiba-kun_  
Subject: …  
Oi, where is my good-night message, fair-weather friend? ] 

The young man stared at his phone as if he wanted to hypnotize it, while waiting for Aiba's reply with a surprisingly fast beating heart due to a sudden wave of nervousness. He didn't move at all for maybe one or two minutes, except from tapping on the screen of his cellphone once in a while in order not to let it go black. However, he didn't receive any reply from his friend, or at least not as fast as he expected, obviously.

He pouted and in another sudden rage of frustration, Nino opened his phone's address book and scrolled to Aiba's name, hitting the _edit_ button. He murmured something to himself while he edited the contact name from "Aiba-kun" to something – in his opinion – more accurate and then he sighed deeply, dropping his cell phone next to him again.

Admittedly, this was very stupid right now. Very stupid and very childish and Nino knew that. What was he expecting? That Aiba was sitting by his phone all the time just to reply immediately to messages from Nino? If he didn't send him one today, it could mean that maybe the other just didn't use the device this evening? The battery could also have died, he might have plans, an outing with a friend, maybe, just like Nino this evening. Aiba could be visiting family, or just maybe he was already sleeping. It was pretty late already after all.

Nino didn't receive any reply for the next thirty minutes which he spent lying on his bed, burying his face in his pillow, sulking but unable to fall asleep. He had already given up on expecting a reply and so he was just waiting until his mind was relaxed enough to drift into sleep, which could take quite some time, considering his current state.

He then gave up on trying to fall asleep, sitting up, getting his guitar and a notepad. He played a few cords, as silently as possible not to wake up any neighbors and only whispered the lyrics of the song, following the melody in his head. He took a few notes once in a while, trying a specific line over and over until he was satisfied. Frustration had at least one good side – sometimes, it inspired him, even if he would probably only end up with a silly song about why Aiba was so stupid.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated, pulling him out of his concentration and almost making him jump from his bed. He reached out, taking the culprit in his hand and opened an unread message – from Aiba.

He gulped.

_[ From: Aibaka_  
Subject: RE:…  
Oh, is someone grumpy? I didn't forget you but I was busy this evening, first I met my brother for dinner and then I was in the gym for training. Sorry! Good Night! ♥ ] 

Nino blushed – especially when the image of a sweating Aiba training his biceps suddenly popped up in his head - and he couldn't prevent a smile from forming on his lips. He was surprisingly happy about this little message, his heart jumping a little. He was satisfied with his friend's reaction. However, he decided to go back to his usual pattern of not replying. Furthermore, he still had to finish composing his new song. He might consider to change the lyrics to something nicer though, he thought, his mind settled about his Aiba-frustration.

Then, about 20 minutes later, his cell phone vibrated again.

_[ From: Aibaka_  
Subject: RE: RE: …  
Ne, Nino, what about a good-night kiss? ;3 ♥ ] 

Nino chuckled. Maybe, this finally deserved a reply.

_[ To: Aibaka_  
Subject: RE: RE: RE: …  
Idiot! ] 

Yeah, that wasn't really creative, but Nino didn't really know what else he should send his friend. The young man couldn't even put down his phone again, since Aiba's answer came within a second.

_[ From: Aibaka_  
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: …  
I mean it! :D Come down! ♥ ] 

"What?!"

Nino stared at his phone. Then, he jumped up and brushed his curtain aside to take a look down to the parking lot where Aiba was standing under the light of a streetlamp, looking at his phone, obviously out of breath. He was only wearing sweatpants, a colorful shirt and a pair of sneakers. Nino quickly let the curtain fall back before Aiba could lift his head and spot him, and turned his back to the window. His heart jumped just a little bit when he realized that this actually meant that Aiba had just spontaneously taken a train and came running to his place just to see him. Feeling the heat reddening his cheeks, Nino fumbled with his phone.

_[ To: Aibaka_  
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE:…  
You're overusing the heart mark, idiot. ] 

He pretended to not have seen the other yet. The answer followed promptly.

_[ From: Aibaka_  
Subject: …  
D: And you are overusing the word "idiot"… T_T  
PS: It's cold down here! ] 

Nino tried to calm down his heartbeat, unsuccessfully.

The young man grabbed a hoodie for himself and a jacket for Aiba so that at least he wouldn’t catch a cold, and then he rushed out of his apartment, down the stairs, trying to not run too fast. He didn't want to give the impression that he was… as excited as he really was right now. Of course, Aiba was waiting for him, slightly shaking, his hands in his trousers' pockets and the taller was right, it was pretty chilling outside. This didn't stop him from flashing Nino his usual wide and warm smile though, as he spotted him.

"Yo…," Nino finally approached him, and when Aiba tried to welcome him with a hug, Nino quickly reached out his hand to hand Aiba the jacket he had brought for him instead.

Aiba's look showed disappointment from the rejected hug but on the other hand, he gratefully took the jacket, pulling it on immediately. The sleeves were a bit too short for his size, since Nino was a bit smaller than him, but Aiba didn't complain.

"Yo! I almost thought, you would let me freeze to death here. Thanks for the jacket," Aiba said chuckling while Nino scratched his head sheepishly.

Of course he wouldn't have let the other just stand here and die from the cold. He wasn't that heartless. On the contrary, his heart was getting annoying lately, Nino admitted. Especially today, it was pulling him to and fro between his old crush Sho and Aiba. Again he felt the turmoil bubbling inside of him and he silently cursed himself for soiling the mood with it.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Aiba asked in concern, picking up on Nino's troubled mood seemingly immediately. He lowered his gaze a little to face Nino directly and lifted one hand to brush over Nino's cheek caringly, causing the other to flush. "You look a bit troubled, something happened? You can tell me. I'm your boyfriend now, right?"

"Ah, about that…," Nino started, searching for words. "It's… it's complicated, I think."

"Well, to be honest, I think _you_ are making things complicated, Nino," Aiba spoke the truth but didn't forget a cute smile.

Nino stared at him with a serious look. "Then why don't you just give up on me?" He must be annoying, after all…

"Because I decided on falling in love. And I decided on you," Aiba said, at least as serious as Nino was. "I won't give up so easily. So? What's bugging you?" he playfully punched Nino's shoulder, making the other lift his hand to rub the respective spot.

Nino took a deep breath. Maybe, he should just be honest with the other. _If_ they were really dating, having some kind of _relationship_ , it would be fatal if they lied to each other from the start. "To be honest... I met _him_ by chance, today after work."

"Who?" Aiba wondered.

"My college friend, Sho."

"Oh," the other figured immediately. "The one you had a crush on?"

Nino nodded and Aiba pulled this lips between his teeth, humming as if he was thinking.

"So, how was it?" he then asked, surprising Nino.

The other gave an awkward grin, tilting his head as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well... Strange, to be honest."

"Do you still have…?" Aiba made some indecipherable gestures with his hands before crossing his arms too, mirroring Nino's pose.

"Have what?" Nino asked, arched a questioning eyebrow at his friend.

"A crush on him?"

Nino took a deep breath and gulped before he answered, lifting his hand to scratch the back of his head again. This was the question he had asked himself already, at least three times this evening and still, he wasn't able to give a clear answer. "I-I don't know, maybe… I guess yes, somehow? A little? I don't know, it was just so strange, we didn't see each other in three years, you know?"

"And your feelings for him are still there?" Aiba asked further.

Nino wasn't able to read the expression on his boyfriend's face, was he just curious, was he annoyed, maybe jealous? "He… he told me he missed chatting with me and that we should keep in contact from now on," he made a small pause. "And that he's getting divorced…most likely."

"Oh…,” Aiba seemed a bit surprised. “Do... do you want to seize the chance now?"

"What?" Nino chuckled before he shook his head. "No, it's impossible, he's undoubtedly into women only. He was just talking about our friendship."

Aiba came a step closer. "Did you ever tell him that you like him?"

Nino chuckled again, brushing his hand through his hair before bringing them to join in front of his body, lowering his head. "Of course not!"

"So how can you be so sure that he doesn't like you too?" Aiba asked, coming another step closer. Nino could take in the scent of Aiba's shampoo. The other must have showered after exercising in the gym and somehow, the odor lured him in a little.

"I just know it, OK?" Nino said in a low voice, looking up to see Aiba who was getting closer and closer until he reached out to take Nino's hands in his own. They locked eyes.

"Maybe you should tell him," the taller whispered, pressing Nino's hands slightly.

Nino wasn't sure how to react and so he just chuckled again, a bit stupidly. "Aiba, you're really strange, you know? You want to make me fall in love with you, to have a relationship, but you recommend me to confess to my old crush. That's kind of counter-productive for your plans, don't you think so?" he mocked his friend.

"Maybe, but we're not only dating, we're also friends, aren't we?" Aiba stated sincerely. "And as a friend, that's what I would recommend for you to do. Further, as long as you don't know for sure that there is nothing between you two, you might always be thinking about him, even if you're with me. I don't want a third person in our relationship," he grinned, trying to lighten up the situation.

Nino couldn't help but smile too. Feeling embarrassed, he averted his eyes. Somehow Aiba's words touched him. "I'm sorry, Aiba. I'm really inconsiderate, talking to you about that."

Aiba didn't answer. He just pouted cutely, while he was still holding onto Nino's hands. It seemed, like he was accepting Nino's _apology_.

"You said, you would make me forget him," the younger then said suddenly, not really knowing himself where this was coming from right now.

"I will! If you give me the chance to," Aiba looked at him, nodding excitedly. "Are you still thinking about him right now?"

"Obviously, we just talked about him, didn't we?"

"So let me change that," Aiba smirked confidently.

Nino wanted to ask "How" but even before he was able to say the word, Aiba had leaned forward, wrapping one of his arms around Nino's waist to close the gap between them while his other hand carefully cupped Nino's cheek. And without another warning he captured Nino's lips in a surprising but tender kiss. Nino's heart skipped a beat and indeed, Aiba was all over his mind right now, erasing any trace of something – or someone - else. Nino felt Aiba's soft warm lips on his own, felt his hand in his lower back, the radiating warmth from Aiba's body invading his personal space and even if he was surprised, he had to say that it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Not at all.

He thought about their first kiss after their catch ball match but this kiss was nothing like the small innocent kiss from back then. This time, it wasn't just a small pecking of their lips out of the blue, almost accidentally, this time it was a _real_ kiss. A sincere one, even if Aiba didn't use his tongue (maybe he was scared that Nino would slap him, or bite) it was a passionate one, one that stole all of Nino's attention, one that made him feel good, wanted. Nino couldn't help but melt in Aiba's embrace right now and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to drown a little in the kiss. It felt strangely good to be kissed by the other, strangely _right_. And when Aiba ended the kiss, Nino wanted to feel the sweet moving of Aiba's lips against his again...

His eyes still closed, their foreheads touching each other, Nino took a deep breath and tried to process what had just happened. His heart was still pounding like crazy, but it felt good. He was still confused about all this stuff though, Aiba, Sho, Aiba, the kiss, so confused...

"Still thinking about him?" Aiba whispered, caressing Nino's cheek and the other was ready to melt again.

He opened his eyes, gazing into Aiba's who looked at him with his typical warmth. "Hm… now that you mentioned it…," Nino smirked, his eyes dropping onto Aiba's lips, hoping that the other...

...Would kiss him again, and he did. Again, Aiba brushed his lips against Nino's and pulled him close. As they were about to deepened the contact, Aiba stopped, leaving behind an almost protesting Nino.

"How about now?" the older grinned cheekily.

"Right now I can only think about you," Nino whispered almost desperately, surprised by his own words and he sighed in relief when Aiba rewarded him with a third kiss.

This time they kissed with even more passion. Aiba guided Nino closer to the apartment complex, pressing him against the wall. His hands all over Nino, the latter would have been unable to escape from the situation, not that he ever thought about it. The smaller voicelessly sighed into their kiss when Aiba's tongue slightly pressed against his lips and Nino willingly parted them to welcome the passion further. They let their lips and tongues dance for a while, breathing heavily in between kisses, their hands hovering over each other's bodies. Aiba slightly stroke Nino's neck, giving him goosebumps, while Nino circled his arms around Aiba to hug him closer.

It was when he felt that there was something happening down there between them that he finally backed off a little, ending their kiss and pressing the other back, slightly. Aiba looked at Nino with questioning eyes, not getting what was happening.

"Aiba-kun, I think you have to go now or…"

"Or what? You might actually fall in love with me? Or do you fear losing your virginity?" Aiba chuckled, jokingly but his voice sounded a bit broken. Was he nervous?

Nino lifted his hand and slightly slapped Aiba's shoulder. He tried to smile to let the other know that everything was OK – well, more or less – and pouted cutely. "I will _not_ let you spend the night here, just so that you know. So you better go home and get some sleep,” the young man then said, acting strict, pointing at the other. “We have to get up early for work tomorrow after all..."

"I guess, you're right," the other then said, brushing his hand through his hair and sighed.

"Aiba-kun?" Nino cleared his throat.

"Uhm... Yes?"

The other blushed and averted his eyes. "That… was a nice... good night kiss. Well… plural."

Aiba chuckled, relieved, and knowing that he shouldn’t count Nino's backing off as a rejection. "We can repeat that whenever you want to," he offered.

He tried to wink but ended up only squeezing his eyes, which caused Nino to giggle slightly. The older then lifted his hand to wave at his boyfriend and flashed Nino a last cute smile. After Aiba left, Nino finally went upstairs again to his apartment, not so sure if he would be able to find sleep any time soon. His heart was still in turmoil but somehow, he also felt happier than he had been in a long while and maybe, he would be able to forget Sho faster than he had feared.

TBC


	4. Twisted Hearts

Sho kept his word and it wasn't even a week when he dropped by at the music shop to pay Nino a visit. Honestly, it was a bit too early for Nino to get used to their resumed friendship. It was true that he had focused his thoughts on Aiba for the past few days but it would be a lie if he said that he was completely ready to see Sho as just what he should be – a _friend_ \- and not his _former crush_.

Nino hated himself for having those feelings but he assumed that as time goes by, he would get rid of them. This wasn't the first time that he had a one-sided crush on someone and he had Aiba now, his somewhat-new-boyfriend. And to be honest, he liked Aiba. A lot more than expected, and his liking was growing every day. He might even be ready to completely fall for him, he _wanted_ to be able to love him. If only his past wouldn't keep on messing with him…

Nino still couldn't take Aiba's _decision to fall in love_ seriously and it bugged him a lot because in the end, it would probably be only _him_ who have invested feelings in this and would end up with a broken heart one way or another. Maybe, he was too different from Aiba. Maybe Aiba was actually really able to _control_ his feelings but Nino… Nino could not and he hated it. He couldn't control his feelings for Sho, he couldn't control his feelings for Aiba, and having both at the same time was just too much for him to handle.

This was why Nino didn't feel well at all about the idea of Sho coming to visit and knowing that Aiba would be present too, but Sho had mailed him that he'd drop by since he was nearby due to work. How could Nino refuse him? It would be lame to lie and say he was not on duty today and maybe Sho wouldn't care anyway and drop by nevertheless just to pick up his CD and then, his little lie would be found out anyway.

Of course, – how could it be different – Aiba was on duty that day too. Still, Nino didn't want Aiba to see Sho, seeing them together, if he knew that the man was Nino's college crush. It would make him feel unsettled and uncomfortable for so many different reasons. He wanted to try hiding the fact that he and Sho knew each other, but of course that was just stupid, how could he treat the other like a normal customer, when Sho kept on chatting with him cheerfully, like in their old days? Wouldn't Aiba find that even stranger if he saw that? Having those thoughts at the back of his head, the whole situation was becoming even stranger than it already was.

"I can't believe you really recorded a CD, Nino," Sho said, leaning on the counter with a fascinated smile dancing on his lips. Nino tried not to look at him directly, pinning his eyes on the cover of his own CD that his friend was holding in his hands. "I shouldn't buy only one copy, how about giving me five? I'll spread them to the right people in the company."

"Really?!" Nino looked at him, astonished. He would be happy enough with Sho buying one of his CDs but knowing that he had his support to such an extent, was flattering.

"Yeah, maybe someone wants to write a review about it, wouldn't that be a nice advertisement?" Sho said. "If not, I'll do it myself, promise! I'm not in the music department but who cares? I have a good understanding for music, it will be sufficient."

Nino blushed, cursing himself, but he couldn't help but feel utterly happy about this promise. "That would really help me out… I hope it won't disappoint you."

"I'm sure, it won't, it's _yours_ after all! You've always been talented," the man continued complimenting his old college friend casually.

"Stop that please, it's embarrassing," the young music store clerk replied in a low voice. He'd always been weak with compliments, especially when they came from people he liked and considering the fact that he wanted to get over the rest of his crush on Sho, this wasn't really helpful.

It wasn't that Aiba didn't support Nino. Of course he did, as his self-proclaimed No. 1 fan. Aiba had already bought 3 copies of his mini album too, one for himself, one for his parents and one for his brother. Even if Nino was pretty sure that Aiba's parents weren't interested in music, he had of course appreciated the nice intention of the other man.

Suddenly, someone – well, Aiba, to be exact - stepped behind him, coming from the storage rooms at the back. He poked Nino's side playfully and when the latter turned his head, he wasn't surprised to find him standing there with a broad smile. Nevertheless, his heartbeat stopped. He quickly glanced at Sho, who was busy studying the track list of Nino's CD on the back cover, and then looked back at Aiba. The latter's grin was becoming wider and wider when he saw the new customer picking not only one or two, no _five_ copies of Nino's CD! Nino could see that Aiba was about to approach Sho and he wanted to stop him, but he couldn't find the right way to do it and then, it was too late.

"Oh wow, are you a fan of Nino here?" Aiba asked cheerfully, leaning a bit forward on the counter, pointing at the stack of CDs in Sho's hands.

Nervously, Nino hid his face behind his hand, pretending to be busy rubbing his forehead. Aiba had always been open-minded and found it easy to approach people, Nino shouldn't be surprised. Sho lifted his eyes, meeting Aiba's gaze and gave him a sincere smile.

"You can say so! Nino is my best friend from college days, I was amazed to find out he released a mini album, and I want to support him!" the man said with high passion.

"Oh, you know each other from college?" Aiba asked, straightening up again. He turned his head to his colleague, who was standing there, blushing slightly, his gaze lowered to the counter, still hidden behind his hand, then he looked back to take in the figure of their – and Aiba had to admit – very handsome customer.

"We played in a band together for some years, right, Nino?" the man in front of the counter said cheerfully. "Ah how I miss those times…"

"Yeah…," Nino just murmured.

He cursed inwardly. He could feel Aiba's gaze on him and when he quickly glanced at him, he could see Aiba's smile getting wiped off his face. So he got it, Nino thought. Even if Aiba was a little slow to catch up sometimes, he seemed to get the situation right away. He might be a bit naïve sometimes, but he definitely wasn't stupid and the mixture of huffiness and curiosity on Aiba's face now spoke volumes.

"Sakurai Sho, nice to meet you," the customer then said with a friendly nod towards Aiba.

"How nice to meet you!" the other smiled back, pretending that nothing had happened but Nino could feel the fake in the other's smile now. "I'm Aiba Masaki, Nino's-"

"Colleague and friend," Nino chimed in from the side, just in case, since he wasn't completely sure what Aiba was about to say. _Experiment_? _Boyfriend_? _Soon-to-be-lover_?

No matter what exactly Aiba saw him as, at least for now, Nino didn't want Sho to know that he was gay. He never told him and he wasn't ready yet to reveal this secret to his old friend. Not yet. The taller man right next to him eyed Nino from the corner of his eye, his expression not readable, but he probably didn't like Nino's behaviour right now, and then he continued, flashing his – faked – smile at Sho who finally pulled out his wallet to pay for the CDs.

When Nino wanted to take the money, Aiba put his hand onto Nino's upper arm and slightly pushed him aside, taking his place, causing a puzzled look on his colleague's face. Aiba took Sho's money and placed the CDs in a small plastic bag, handing it over together with the change, another smile adorning his face.

"Thank you very much for your purchase, please enjoy the album and spread some good words about Nino," Aiba said.

"I will, thanks," Sho smiled and then turned his look to Nino. "I'll call you for some drinks sometime, let's go to karaoke together soon!"

"Ah, sure," Nino nodded and thanked him again for his purchase before Sho finally left the shop, waving as he stepped through the door.

As soon as they were alone again, the smile from Aiba's face vanished instantly, Nino felt like shit, and he didn't even know why exactly. This situation had just been highly awkward, that was for sure. He examined his friend who still didn't say a word and pretended to wipe the perfectly clean counter with a napkin. Then, just when Nino wanted to steal off, Aiba cleared his throat and held him back.

"Give me three more copies of your mini album," he said, determined.

Nino stopped and turned around, surprised. "Eh? Why?"

He faced his friend, standing there with crossed arms and a strict look.

"I want to buy them," Aiba exclaimed.

"You already bought three copies," Nino pointed out, lifting his eyebrows.

"I know. But as your _No. 1 fan_ ," Aiba emphasized the fan-part, "I need three more, so…"

Frowning, Nino continued staring at him. Then, his colleague's behaviour became crystal clear and Nino would be lying if he denied the slightly increasing heartbeat in his chest right now. Could it be…, "Is it because Sho-kun bought five copies?"

"It's because I want to spread your music to the world," Aiba replied.

Nino spotted the little pout on Aiba's lips though and wondered if it would be OK to smirk, as he felt his lips curling up on the happy feeling that spread throughout his body, making him feel excited, but he bit his lower lip to hide the slightly amused expression.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" he then asked, as serious as possible.

Aiba stared at him, as if he had just asked the most stupid question of all times. "You're my… boyfriend, no? I have every right to be jealous!"

Nino couldn't prevent his cheeks from blushing and his eyes averted Aiba's, wandering to the floor. It was still so strange to be called a _boyfriend_ , even if he had to admit that it felt kind of good and warm and that it made him happy to be called that by Aiba. Nino didn't understand his own heart. The moment before he didn't want to reveal in front of Sho that he had a boyfriend, the next moment his heart melted away when Aiba called him like that. Maybe, this whole thing was really becoming a bit dangerous. Wasn't it just supposed to be a test for Aiba and he was his little experiment? Nino wasn't sure if it was OK to get carried away. What, if things didn't turn out well, if he… really would fall for Aiba and the latter dropped him like a hot potato as soon as he found out it didn't work for him? Nino had no intentions to fall from the one unrequited love into the next one. He should take better care…

"…Whatever, you can buy as many copies as you want," he said, trying to distract his thoughts and reached out for the CDs to sell them to Aiba.

The latter found his usual, happy and so addictive smile back again, somehow to Nino's relief and with that, Aiba returned to his spot as _"the person who bought most copies of Nino's album "_ in less than 10 minutes, being Nino's proud No. 1 fan he was supposed to be.

  
~*~*~

About an hour later, Nino had to run some errands outside (handing out some advertisement flyers for the shop at the nearby stations, making a delivery of CDs to a nearby café that sold some there) and so, Aiba found himself alone behind the counter. There were no customers currently and he was browsing through a magazine but he couldn't focus at all so he finally slapped the magazine close and let out a huge frustrated groan.

It must have even reached Mao's ears, who was supposed to be in the back rooms sorting some paper work for the customers' orders, since it didn't take long before she showed up next to her colleague handing him a cup of fresh tea.

"Frustrated?" she simply asked.

"Ah, thanks," Aiba took the offered cup of tea in his hands.

"What happened, Aiba-kun?" Mao continued asking, "You know I have a listening ear for you if there's something on your mind." When Aiba still didn't seem to be willing to talk about it, she went a step further. "Is it something about Nino?"

"Uhm… well…," the man didn't really know what and how to tell his colleague about what was troubling him. He was frustrated, yes and it had to do with Nino. With Nino and that damned handsome guy who just paid them a visit…

"You know, I think you two are damned cute together," Mao chuckled and nudged Aiba's side, trying to cheer him up. "Tell me, aren't things going well between you and Nino?"

"Well, I _thought_ , it's going well," Aiba finally spilled out. "But… did you see Nino's college crush?"

"College crush?" the young woman arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that guy who came to buy Nino's CDs earlier..."

"Oh! Oh, that was his college crush?!" Mao asked surprised. Indeed, she didn't hear most parts of their conversation, but she _had_ seen the good-looking customer.

"Yes… and it seems like he's currently getting divorced," Aiba sighed heavily, brushing his hand over his face, obviously troubled. "I just hope he's not into Nino or something, I wouldn't stand a chance against him…"

Mao tried to offer her friend a smile. She felt sorry for the guy but somehow she also found his reaction utterly cute. "Don't say that, Aiba-kun, why would you think so?"

Aiba brushed his hand up further, ruffling his own hair in frustration before he pursed his lips in a pout. "I mean, did you _see_ him?! He's damned hot! No wonder that Nino has a crush on him!"

"True, he's handsome," Mao nodded. "But you are handsome too, and I'm pretty sure, Nino thinks so too!"

Her colleague tilted his head cutely, giving her a sincere smile and reached his hand out to nudge her lovingly. "You're cute, Mao-chan, and you want to cheer me up, thank you!"

"Of course I want to cheer you up," the woman chuckled. "After all, there's nothing worse than a bad-tempered Aiba-kun! So get it together and don't give up! I'm rooting for you!"

"I won't!" Aiba answered, his good mood slowly coming back upon the happiness over his colleague’s support.

"See, that's the Aiba-kun I know!"

"Alright," Aiba said, more to himself than to Mao. "I'm taking him out for a date tonight," Yes, he totally ignored the fact that _actually_ his next date with Nino would be going to Mao's engagement party but screw that! Special circumstances called for special treatment!

"Way to go!" Mao cheered for him.

"Any suggestions? Maybe a nice movie?" he then asked her.

Mao wondered for a short while, until her face lighted up. She seemed to have an idea. "I know a really good movie and I'm sure you guys will love it!" she grabbed her phone and quickly opened a cinema app, browsing for the movie she had in mind. "Alright, I'll reserve two tickets for you at the cinema near the train station, evening show at half past eight."

"Eh? Wait, what kind of movie is it?" Aiba wanted to confirm but the young woman just smiled and continued.

"Trust me, you guys will love it," she said and somehow, Aiba couldn't but wonder about her slightly mischievous grin. "I just sent you the reservation number. No need to thank me, and you're very welcome!"

With this, the girl let her phone slip back into her apron's pocket, and took a last sip of her tea before returning to the office in the back faster than Aiba could complain about anything, leaving behind a slightly puzzled friend.

~*~*~

Aiba didn't really have time to complain or even to think about Mao's slightly strange behavior. Instead, he was busy trying to convince Nino to go on a movie date with him. Of course, the other didn't really sound passionate about it. Not that he didn't like going to watch a movie once in a while, but he seemed a bit spaced out and also murmured something about a song he wanted to finish writing. However, in the end, Aiba seemed to be persistent enough to finally make Nino give in.

Aiba had just picked up the tickets and handed them to Nino when they lined up for some snacks and drinks which – of course – Aiba had to pay for. Nino frowned at the movie title, _"Sinister"_ and even more about the _"2"_ behind it, wondering if it would make any sense to go watch the second part of a movie series of which he actually never heard of. Aiba told him though that Mao had highly recommended the movie and had also assured him that they wouldn't need to know the first movie to be able to enjoy the second one.

In the end, they both came to the conclusion that they indeed didn't need to know the first part of the series to be able to fully _enjoy_ the movie. Well, if _enjoying_ was the right term, which both, Aiba and Nino seriously doubted. The movie turned out to be a horror movie. A _really_ terrifying and disturbing one, should be added. And truth be told, bothmen were … well, not so good with horror movies.

Aiba had managed to spread half of his popcorn when he almost jumped at the first huge shocking part of the movie and at that point, Nino simply cursed, fumbling some of the popcorn out of his hair, grumbling at his boyfriend. However, when the next shocker came, the younger almost jumped by himself and ended up clinging to Aiba's arm, desperately, seeking for protection.

Aiba didn't complain, feeling ridiculously happy over Nino's _affection_ (at least he preferred to think about it as affection than just pure angst) and closeness, so he even slipped a bit closer to the other. They screamed a lot – probably competing quite well with the female audience -, stuck together, the popcorn and coke forgotten and abandoned on the empty seat next to Aiba. When the movie was finally over, Nino had buried his head against Aiba's shoulder and the latter could feel the racing heartbeat of his boyfriend pressing against his arm. He reached out his free hand, hugging the younger to comfort him and Nino didn't even complain – at least not until the movie's ending credits rolled on the screen and the lights came on again.

"What the hell was _that_?! Why the hell did you choose _that_ movie?! You _know_ we're both weak with horror movies!" Nino complained loudly once they made their way outside. He was still terrified, slightly shaking and clinging to Aiba's arm who couldn’t really walk with his shaking knees either.

"It was Mao-chan's idea, she said, we'll love the movie…," Aiba disclaimed any responsibility for the movie choice. "If I had known it's such a shocker…"

"Oh yes, I really _loved_ how that weird kiddo tried to burn his parents, I think it's my favourite scene of the movie," Nino said, his voice dripping from sarcasm and Aiba couldn't keep himself from laughing. Nino frowned. "Didn't you check the title and summary before?"

"I didn't know the title since she just reserved the seats for us and gave me the reservation number!" the other replied, defending himself.

Nino rolled his eyes and groaned. "You could have checked the time and movies to limit the possibilities?"

"And check _all_ of them during working hours?" Aiba arched an eyebrow.

"Uhm… well…," Nino wondered. Maybe he was a little unfair right now. He sighed. "OK screw it, Mao-chan is a little witch."

Aiba chuckled, agreeing but deep inside he was also really grateful to his co-worker. Even if she sent him and Nino through hell with this cinema visit, the result – a super cute, super excited Nino who was still clinging to his arm - was definitely worth the torture. As soon as they were outside of the building again, the cool air hit them, making Nino shiver slightly, tightening his grip even more. They stopped short and while his one hand was still circled around Aiba's elbow, Nino reached into his pocket with the other, pulling out his phone to check when his next train would depart.

Again, Aiba chuckled amused until Nino lifted a frowning look at him.

"What is it, Aiba?" the young man asked, slightly tugging the other along when he started approaching the train station.

"Uhm nothing…," his boyfriend said. "I was just wondering… are you really OK with this?"

"OK with this?" the other asked, wondering.

Aiba grinned widely. "Not that I'm complaining about you sticking so close to me, I like that, but we're outside now and I though you don't like people witnessing our… relationship," he dared pointing out in a teasing voice.

"Ah!" Just as if Nino didn't notice his actions before, the young man suddenly jumped aside, pulling back his arm and blushed deeply, clenching his cell phone with both hands then. "Gosh, how embarrassing!"

"You're not embarrassing," Aiba pouted jokingly before he took a step closer to Nino again, leaning forward, their eyes locking. "You're cute."

Nino bit his lower lip and Aiba could see in the streetlamp’s light that his cheeks were taking on an ever darker shade of red. "Now _you_ are embarrassing!"

"Do you want?" Aiba then asked, smiling.

"Want what?"

The taller guy reached out his hand to his boyfriend, still giving him a radiant smile. "I can hold your hand if you're still scared."

"What?!" Nino stiffened immediately, protesting. "I never said, I'm scared! _You_ 've been the one freaking out during the movie, screaming like a girl, I just went with the flow since your anxiety was so damned infectious! I don't need you holding my hand, thank you very much!"

Nino was embarrassed. So embarrassed. And Aiba found it so adorable and cute that it made his heart jump.

"If you weren't scared, it wouldn't have bugged you."

"Whatever…," the younger man murmured, pushing his hands inside his pockets and averting his look, pouting.

"Come on. I'll bring you home," Aiba offered, his hand still reached for the other who now stared at it with furrowed eyebrows.

"No need to," Nino murmured stubbornly.

Aiba wouldn't be Aiba if he didn't have another trump up his sleeves. "Oh, so you don't mind riding an almost empty underground train and then walking home all alone in the pitch black dark night?" he asked, grinning when he saw his boyfriend's face turning slightly worried.

"… Do you need to emphasize that?"

"Come on now, take my hand!" Aiba stressed the other.

"No, it's embarrassing!" Nino refused.

"And even if, I don't care."

"Not everyone is as carefree as you, Aiba!" the younger whined.

"Maybe I just want to show off my cute boyfriend? And look, you're still trembling. Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

Nino heard a small girlish giggle from somewhere close and when he darted a look to the side, he could actually spot two young women standing slightly aside and watching the two guys, definitely highly amused by their – as it must appear to them - _lover's quarrel_.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, people are watching!" Nino concluded their conversation and at the same moment as he steps forward to continue his walk, he grabbed Aiba's hand firmly, pulling him behind him, hurriedly.

~*~*~

With that, Aiba ended up bringing Nino home and on the train Nino had already forgotten his grumpy attitude and the two returned to chatting about other things, trying to forget the horrifying images from the movie. In the end, Nino even allowed Aiba to hold his hand again, walking from the train station to his place – nobody could see it in the dark after all – and when Nino was about to say good bye and enter his apartment, Aiba turned him around, pushed him slightly against the apartment door and kissed him good night, passionately.

Nino didn't complain. Instead, he allowed himself to melt into the kiss, feeling his knees giving in and he was glad that the door supported his back. They were panting slightly every now and then when their lips parted, pulling in some air just to continue their kiss as long as possible. A few minutes later, Nino's arms settled around Aiba's neck and his eyes closes at the sensation of Aiba's soft lips brushing against Nino's neck, lovingly. Nino felt like he was on cloud nine – dangerously high – but he didn't care and just continued enjoying the other's affection.

"Hey Nino…," Aiba suddenly whispered against his boyfriend's ear, his arms wrapped firmly around Nino's slim waist and pressing his body even closer.

"Hm?" Nino wondered what could be worth breaking their caress at the moment and when Aiba placed another kiss right beneath Nino's earlobe, he sighed.

"May… may I stay over at your place tonight?"

Nino snapped his eyes open and as a reflex action, he pushed Aiba back a little. "What?!"

Aiba looked at him with a shy grin on his lips, "It's pretty late already and…"

The younger man frowned and before his brain finished its thoughts, the words already spilled out of his mouth. "Do you want to lay me or are you just scared of taking the almost empty underground train and walk home all alone in the pitch black dark night?"

"Idiot," Aiba murmured and Nino could read all or nothing now in his look.

Nino cleared his throat. "Well... it's late already, isn't it?" he repeated Aiba's statement and when his boyfriend flashed him a hopeful smile, his heart skipped a beat. He _didn't_ say that he would let Aiba lay him, though!

Nevertheless, it didn't take long before the couple found themselves on top of Nino's bed. Still dressed. ( _Still?!_ What was Nino even thinking?!) and watching some kind of late night show on TV. Since they were quite tired already, they soon switched positions from sitting with their backs against the wall to a lying position. Nino had bedded his head on top of his arms while Aiba was lying behind him, using a bunch of pillows to be able to look over the other, his arm laying on Nino's hip. Despite Nino's complaining at first about not wanting to be disturbed while watching the show, when Aiba started kissing his neck and ear again, in the meantime he had gotten used to it, and he even started turning his head to peck his boyfriend's lips casually.

Ah, screw it, Nino finally thought, unable to concentrate on the TV anyway and so he turned towards Aiba's embrace and looked at the other intensely. His heart was beating fast, his mind was filled with excitement and looking into Aiba's eyes, looking at his soft lips, overwhelming him, feeling this indescribable need to kiss that man again, without holding back. He lifted his hand, brushed Aiba's cheek slightly, before he let it wander onto the taller man's neck and pulled him down to bring their lips together. He immediately allowed Aiba to deepen their kiss and it felt good, so good, and so exciting. It's been a while since Nino felt desired.

Aiba pressed their bodies closer, and if his hand was resting on Nino's hips just a moment ago, now it started trailing his body, his silhouette, finding its way underneath the seam of the young man's shirt and to the smaller's back. It didn't take long before Aiba's caress became more intimate, more demanding. Nino could feel Aiba's warm fingers sliding underneath the waistband of his boxer shorts, brushing over the naked skin, cupping one of his butt cheeks. Damned. This was arousing. Too arousing. Nino blushed badly. This was too much for him.

"Wa-wait, wait, what are you doing?!" he finally asked with a slightly shaking voice, breaking their kiss. His heartbeat was racing.

Aiba looked worried, rejected. He slowly pulled back his hand immediately. "Sorry, I thought... You don't want to…?"

Nino was a romantic. If he had sex with someone, then it must be something serious. He must be in love. And... he _wasn't_ really in love at the moment, or was he? Kissing someone you liked and going a step further with someone you loved were two different pairs of shoes, right? Nino was confused. He wasn't sure if he was scared of finally really falling in love with Aiba if they had sex this evening or if it would be more an admittance of _having_ fallen in love with him already if they did. Whatever, he wasn't ready for this. Not yet.

"I'm sorry…," Nino whispered. His hands, cupping Aiba's face, were slightly trembling.

"Am I going too fast?" Aiba asked concerned.

"Uhm yeah, it's just, I…," how the hell should he explain himself, Nino wondered. He averted his eyes, quickly.

Aiba smiled slightly. "It's OK if you're not ready yet, don't worry."

"I…"

"Nino, really, it's OK. We can wait," the other answered sincerely, brushing his thumb over Nino's reddened cheek. "I won't force you."

"Thanks, Aiba-kun."

The other placed a small kiss on top of Nino's nose and leaned back, lying next to the young man, both facing the ceiling now. "Just tell me one thing," Aiba then said, turning his head a little to face Nino again who looked at him, questioning. "Is it because you're shy? Because we're progressing too fast for your taste? Or… is it because of Sho-kun?"

"What?" To be honest, Nino wasn't even thinking about Sho at all at the moment, he realized, maybe a bit surprised himself.

"I saw how you looked at him today at the shop,"Aiba said and well, Nino couldn't say he didn't know what the other was talking about. "Tell me, are you still in love with him?"

Nino sighed and parted his lips slightly. He wanted to say _no_ but... "I don't know. Honestly, I… I really don't know."

He was confused. He really was. He thought he'd be able to give a clear answer to this question. If Aiba had asked him a few weeks ago and Nino was drunk enough to admit it, the answer would clearly be _yes_ because no matter how Nino tried to run away from his own feelings, Sho was always his biggest crush and not even his marriage had changed the fact that Nino had been secretly in love with that man for years already. But now... recently... things were changing. Feelings were shifting. Even if Nino still wasn't able to completely figure them yet. He couldn't say _no_ either because even if he felt guilty about it, it would be a lie if he didn't at least imagine once recently how it would feel like to kiss Sho instead of Aiba. Just... out of curiosity.

"You're not mad at me? Jealous? Don't know... want to hit me?" Nino finally offered, a bit confused about Aiba's non-reaction.

Aiba sighed. "I _am_ jealous. Of course I am. But what does it help to get angry at you because of that? It's not that I can blame you for your feelings, right?"

"Wow... You sound so... grown-up," Nino said, honestly impressed.

"I _am_ grown-up!" Aiba protested, poking Nino in his cheek.

"You challenged me with a _catch-ball_ game, how am I supposed to know that you actually have such grown-up thoughts?" Nino replied cheekily, but he knew it was just to tease his friend. If he really thought about it, it wasn't the first time that Aiba said something grown-up and smart. It's just... contradicting to most of the other things he usually said.

"However," the older tried to come back to the topic. "You should think about it. About the thing with Sho-kun. Maybe you should even talk about it with him?"

"What? No, I can't!"

"But like this, it's unfair, Nino. Towards me, towards yourself. You, _we_ cannot move on if you don't end your old stories. I can feel that your mind isn't fully with me and I know I can't force you to love me. I think as long as there is Sho-kun somewhere in your heart, you can’t even really give me a chance and that's unfair. Especially if you let me kiss you and hug you… eventually, I will want more, you know?"

Nino knew. He could feel it. Aiba was getting demanding. Well, everyone in a relationship would, sooner or later. They were adults, having an adult relationship – more or less. It was just natural.

"So in your opinion what shall I do? I can't just tell him that I had a crush on him during college, what will he think?!"

"In fact, I think that's exactly what you should do. Confess to him," Aiba suggested, determined.

"Are you crazy?!" Nino chuckled. What the hell was that? Now this felt more like a cheer-up-fight-for-it-talk between two friends than the serious relationship talk that it should probably be.

"No, I mean it," Aiba said, turning around and supporting his chin with his hands as he elbowed on Nino's bed, watching the other from above. "You said he's getting a divorce?"

"Yes."

"You said he's straight?"

"Yes…," what was it that Aiba was aiming for?

"Are you 100 % sure about that?" the older man asked.

Nino frowned. "Well he never explicitly said that he could never fall for a guy but he never made any hints in that direction and he always was into girls so…"

"Let's say, you're 99 % sure," Aiba concluded, pursing his lips. "So theoretically, this 1 % is what keeps you stuck in the situation," he pointed out and Nino was a bit surprised. Probably, the other hit the nail on the head. "So go and clarify it. If there's the tiniest little chance that there could be something between you and him, I'm sure you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't even try."

"But… It would probably be too late anyway. I've been a coward back then in college and I don't think I could openly tell him about this now," Nino lamented. "Further... I'm with you now." Things have changed.

"Don't use me as an excuse, Nino," the other man said in a strict voice. "You're not with me if you still have doubts. I'd rather lose you and go back to being friends than leading a relationship with you in which I feel like there's still Sho-kun's presence hovering between us."

It made sense. "I… I get that," Nino pouted.

"So, will you talk to him?" Aiba arched an eyebrow.

"OK… just give me a little time."

The other looked at him for a second. "Alright. A little."

"Sorry, Aiba," Nino sighed. "I'm a lousy boyfriend, aren't I?"

"It's OK," the other chuckled. "Just promise me you'll settle this."

"I will," Nino nodded. Aiba didn't stop staring at him and finally, Nino lifted his eyebrows in question. "What is it? Something else? Spit it out."

Aiba just grinned at him widely and tilted his head cutely. "Now, I get it that we won't be having sex tonight but… can I at least hold you in my arms while sleeping?"

Nino's heart skipped a beat at his super sweet proposal and he was sure that he blushed again. "Uhm…yeah, why not."

So, after getting Nino's permission, Aiba flung his arms around him again and cuddled close and Nino knew that there was no escape any longer. He smiled as he lifted his hand a bit shyly to pat Aiba's hair.

TBC


	5. Honesty

"I _love_ it!" Sho said when he entered the _Crescendo_ the next time and elbows on the counter, facing Nino with a smirk. "Your CD. It's great. No, it's _brilliant_! It's a pity this isn't a major release, really. How is it possible that nobody discovered you yet? No offence but your management skills must really suck."

"Good to see you too, Sho-kun," Nino answered with a proper greeting, after recovering from the first flash of surprise triggered by his friend's entrance. But Sho was so into his praising him, he simply couldn't get out of it.

"Check this out, Nino," the man continued and pushed a few sheets of paper toward his friend who took it in his hands, frowning. "I wrote a critique and I want to submit it like this to the music department of my company, in case you are OK with it."

"Since when do critics ask their victims for permission to publish what they are writing?" the younger man wondered, turning the first page, which just read the title of his album and Sho's name as the writer of the critique.

"It's uncommon, yeah but since we're friends…," Sho said, shrugging casually and eyeing Nino who finally started reading.

He greeted Aiba, who came along – drawn by the loud conversation - and bent over Nino's shoulders from behind, curiously. Nino lifted his head, looking back at the other and shifted a little so that his colleague could take a proper look too.

_First (Im)Press(ion)_

Tracklist   
_Niji_  
MUSIC  
1992*4##111  
Gimmick Game  
Merry Christmas  
Himitsu  
20825-Nichi-me no Kyoku  
Doko ni demo aru uta 

Aiba started reading aloud - _"A first glimpse at the tracklist of Nino's"_ – just to be interrupted by Sho a second later who looked at Nino while pointing on the sheet with the tip of a pen he produced from his pocket.

"Ah, I wasn't sure if you just want your nickname to be written there or your full name?" he asked.

"Nickname's sufficient," Nino replied and Sho nodded, making a short check mark on the paper. 

Aiba cleared his throat and started again. _"A first glimpse at the tracklist of Nino's debut mini album promises a wide variety of tunes and this is exactly what we get. Nino – up and coming singer/songwriter, currently mostly self-produced under an indie label – has an interesting and fascinating understanding of pop music and plays with different subgenres, different instruments and storytelling in his lyrics. While doing so, he's an all-rounder, a do-it-yourself-talent, equipped with a wonderful, touching, natural voice and the gift to reach the listener's heart._ Oh wow, Sakurai-san, you really hit the nail on the head," Aiba said, stunned by a choice of words that he himself would never be able to come up with.

Nino blushed while Aiba continued reading a few sentences from the paragraph that focused on the first song of the album.

_"Niji – is a sensitive and dreamy ballad, perfect for the natural and warm voice of the young singer, that tells a hopeful love story and paints a nature-inspired picture of a young couple facing their relationship. The soft piano tones, accompanied by the image of rain – created by the simple but effective use of a rain stick – hits straight into the heart, Nino's voice conveying the depths of feelings until the very last syllable. Even if a little uncommon for a starting track of an album, this wonderful romantic and calming track is perfect to fall for the singer's voice and makes you want to hear more by him."_

By then, Nino's cheeks had taken a deep shade of red, Sho smiled at him encouragingly and Aiba continued reading while poking the younger man's side joyfully. His No. 1 fan was obviously excited to read such great praises about his boyfriend.

_"MUSIC – contradictory to the slow, relaxing first track, the next one hooks you with a very playful and happy tune, mixing typical pop elements with slightly jazzy bits while bringing the use of gaming tunes to a new level. It's a very cute and cheerful song that hits the right spot when you feel down and need a cheer up. Prepare to be haunted by this very catchy and sticking song, which will make you carry a smile for days."_

Aiba grinned widely, looking at Nino who just stared at the words on the paper, his blushed cheeks still prominent as ever.

"This is so true," Aiba chuckled. "I play this song in my head whenever I feel down."

"It's really great for cheering up, isn't it?" Sho asked, smiling at Aiba and the other man nods, making Nino feel a bit strange over the sudden agreement between those two. "Ah, about the next song," Sho continued, turning to his old college friend and pointing at the title. "I wanted to ask you… how do you read this title? _1992*4##111_ , is probably not it, is it?" he chuckled after trying to read it out.

"Thank you," Aiba said, out of the blue.

Sho stared at him, puzzled. "For what?"

Nino face-palmed. Then he chimed in. "The title of the song. It's a code. It's read as _"Thank you"_ ," he explained.

"Oooh… I get it," Sho acknowledged, even if Nino was pretty sure that he didn't really get it without any further explanation. 

But he didn't say that and just let Sho taking his notes while he saw Aiba pouting slightly as if he was thinking _"Don't consider yourself a fan of Nino if you don't know even this"_ or something like that. Aiba read a few more lines before he reached the next song. At this point, Nino wanted to vanish into thin air. This was just going to be too embarrassing. He knew it.

_"Gimmick Game – is the next surprise on the album and a completely different kind of tune again. The deep tones of the verse spread a comfortable feeling while the sensual lyrics open an excitement unexpected after the things heard so far. The dulcet vibrato of Nino's slightly hoarse voice sends pleasant shivers all over the listener's body and the story unfolding gives off a sexy, even slightly dirty vibe -_ "

Nino pushed a blushing Aiba slightly to make him stop reading, his own cheeks burning. He glared at Sho, grabbed the paper firmly with both hands, crinkling the edges as he stared at the typed out words. 

"Did – did you really write _sexy_ and _dirty_?! Oh my God…"

"What? You know, I'm not even gay but this is just pure sexiness," Sho replied, a smirk dancing on his lips.

"I _know_ ," Aiba chimed in. "This song is really sexy, I know _exactly_ what you mean!"

"Are you guys crazy?!" Nino asked a bit shocked from the reaction.

Sho ignored the question and asked instead, "Do you dance on stage?"

Nino – now looking as if he really considered Sho as crazy – gaped at him. "Uhm, no?! I'm usually busy with the guitar or the keyboard, thanks."

"I bet the girls would fall for you in droves if you added a dance performance to this song. You'd be such a lady killer! Well, I guess you and the guitar is enough for them already," Sho chuckled, highly amused.

"Sho-kun…," Nino whined.

His friend pulled the paper out of the young man's hands and browsed over the respective part again. "Oh I _really_ want to know what made you write _those_ lyrics, Nino!"

"Sho-kun!" Nino almost jumped to strangle the other just to stop this graceless act of embarrassment and no, he would _definitely not_ tell anybody here what (or better said _who_ ) inspired him to write these lyrics years ago. "OK, _stop_ that now, will you?!"

"But it's _so good_!" Sho burst out into laughing and Nino felt mocked. "I mean it," Sho added in a serious tone. "I love that song."

"Me too!" Aiba chipped in, nodding determined.

This wasn't helpful, Nino thought, still feeling the urge to hide from the world. "But reading those thoughts about my song is just… embarrassing, OK?" Why did he even put this song onto the tracklist? It would have been better to burn the music sheets and write another happy tune instead.

"Nino, you should stand behind what you wrote," Sho pointed out. "You're performing these songs on stage, after all, aren't you?"

"I perform _Gimmick Game_ just on very rare occasions…," Nino said. Rare, like _never_.

"What a waste, that song is incredible!" Sho said, frowning in disappointment and again, Aiba just nodded in agreement.

"It's incredibly embarrassing, yes," the young singer murmured.

Thank god, Sho spared him the rest of the review and so Nino didn't have to die from embarrassment. However, he of course gave his friend his permission to submit the review as it is to his boss. He would be stupid if he didn't, after all, the article was just throbbing from praise and Nino could really use some good publicity, something more effective than word-of-mouth advertisement or the few flyers he was allowed to hang up in the shop and the neighbourhood. Sho was right, regarding management and advertisement methods, Nino sucked, and the indie label he was under couldn't afford to provide much help with this either.

When Sho had left, Aiba fell silent and if this wasn't strange enough for the young man, Nino would at least be alarmed when he saw Aiba – again – wiping the perfectly clean counter with a napkin, his lips slightly pressed together as if he was sulking. Nino sighed.

"Aiba?" he asked, turning to his boyfriend.

"Hm?"

"What is it?" Nino asked.

"Nothing," the other said but his pout spoke to the contrary. He wiped the counter a bit faster.

Nino reached out his hand and tugged slightly on the other man's sleeve, making him stop his ridiculous action and face him. 

"Come on Aiba, I know if there's nothing going on with you and there is definitely something going on with you."

The other groaned and let his limbs sink beside his slightly crouching body. "I'm depressed, OK?"

Surprised, Nino arched an eyebrow. "Why are _you_ depressed?" Indeed, it was rare for Aiba to be depressed over something.

Aiba was not willing to say what was on his mind, but Nino didn't stop staring at him, and so the taller guy sighed again, rolled his eyes and finally spit it out. "I will never be able to help you to _such_ an extent… I cannot write proper song critiques or anything. No chance…"

Again, Nino looked at his boyfriend, surprised, as he realized what was actually going on here. Aiba was referring to Sho and to what Sho was doing – if it worked out well – for Nino's music career by providing an article about his album in his company's magazine. Nino smiled. 

"Oh Aiba, don't be sad, you helped me a lot already," he said in a soft voice.

"Really?" the other looked at him with big eyes and a pout on his lips.

Somehow, he was cute, Nino thought. He felt the strange urge to hug him. But he didn't. Instead, he was pretty sure that he blushed a little, _again_. He lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head and looked at his boyfriend. "Sure! I mean, you were the first one who bought one of my CDs. You're… managing my fan club. You're my self-proclaimed No. 1 fan after all."

" _Self-proclaimed_ you see?" Aiba repeaded, frustrated. "I'm just a freaky fan. Nothing more…"

"And what would I be without my freaky fans?" Nino asked. "Nothing. I _know_ you're my No. 1 fan, Aiba, I don't need any flattering CD review to know that."

"Really?" Hope was glittering in Aiba's eyes.

"Could you please stop whining now? That's so not you!" Nino pouted, turning around and trying to find something to keep his hands busy with and decided on checking the small stack of cash in the cash register.

"You don't know me well enough if you think that I never whine around… ask Mao-chan!" Aiba pouted again.

"No, thanks. Oh come on, Aiba," Nino sighed, abandoning a 500 yen coin roll he just wanted to unwrap into one of the cash register’s sections. He looked at his friend who didn't answer. Then, he sighed again. Maybe it was time to pull out his secret weapon – or so. "Ok, you know what?" he asked and Aiba's eyes filled with curiosity. Better. "I didn't want to tell you since it's not finished yet but… you even inspired me to write a song."

"What? Really?!" and there, whiny Aiba was gone again. Now, _that_ was easy.

"Yeah, kind of."

"What kind of song is it?" the taller guy asked, feeling excited.

"Uhm…," Nino wasn't so sure any longer if he really should use his _"Why Aiba is so stupid"_ song as a tool to cheer up his friend. He already changed some parts for the better but he had to admit, he still had to rewrite some other parts of the lyrics. And the working title, probably. "It's a funny song."

"A funny song?"

More glitter in Aiba's eyes, happiness returned. More butterflies in Nino's stomach. The hell…

"Cheerful. Just like you," Oh wow.

"That's so so sweet Nino, really!" Aiba smiled widely and yeah, by Nino's standards, this was a compliment.

"If you think so," yeah, definitely rewrite the lyrics, Nino made a mental note, or he would never ever be able to show that song to anybody, especially not Aiba.

The other tugged on Nino's elbow, causing a pleasant shiver running up the young man's whole arm as he asked. "When can I hear it?"

"Uhm… I told you, it's not ready yet."

"When will it be ready?" Aiba asked, curiously.

"It will be ready, when it's ready," Nino murmured and picked up the roll of 500 Yen coins.

"You can't predict?"

"No, and if you put pressure onto me, it will take even longer. You know how the muse works."

Aiba nodded before letting go of Nino's arm. "OK, I'll be patient then."

"Thanks," the young man answered, not sure if he meant Aiba's patience or the fact that he had stopped touching him – aka making him immensely nervous.

The taller man crossed his arms and his smile got even wider. He tilted his head and chuckled softly. "Oh wow, you're writing a song for me…"

Nino froze. "I'm not particularly writing it _for_ you. You inspired me to it, that's all."

"To me it almost sounds like the same," the other answered with a cheerful smile, obviously excited.

"Oh well, whatever makes you happy," Nino said and _finally_ managed to unwrap the coins, letting them drop into the cash register with a jangling noise.

"I'm happy whenever you think about me and if you think about me while writing a whole song, you must be thinking about me a lot, right?" Aiba flashed a dazzling smile at his boyfriend. This was just too much.

"I wished I never told you…," Nino murmured in his hand as he brushed it over his red face. Didn't he have enough embarrassment today already?

Aiba who had started stapling some music magazines, smiled at him. "Did you say something, Nino?"

"Nothing," the other shook his head.

"Ah yeah, what about a dinner-date at _"The little Mackerel"_ after work?" Aiba suggested, making Nino blushe once more - on the _date_ part.

"Whatever," the younger replied.

~*~*~

The evening of Mao and Jun's bachelor party drew close faster than expected and so, Aiba now stood in front of Nino's apartment, to pick up his boyfriend to their _party-date_ as he called it and this time, he wasn't late. Again, Aiba was nicely dressed and this time, Nino was dressed nicely too, as the taller found out when his date opened the door and let him in to watch him do his tie as the finishing touch.

Watching Nino dressed elegantly like that – something that Aiba had never seen before – was simply breath taking. His hair was neatly styled, the suit without a single crinkle and the tie fit perfectly to round the appearance. Honestly, Aiba had expected Nino to look a bit lost in fine clothes like that, maybe even mismatching but the suit was nicely tailored, fitting his slim silhouette perfectly, and he just looked gorgeous. Fucking gorgeous.

"You look splendid in this suit, Nino, but if we didn't have such a tight schedule, I would like to undress you on the spot, you know that?" Aiba said, not even bothering to keep his thoughts to himself.

He has stepped behind his boyfriend and circled his arms around the smaller man's waist. He lowered his head, brushing his nose against the soft skin of Nino's neck and took in the seductive scent of the young man, mixed with aftershave. Nino chuckled sheepishly and tried to move in Aiba's embrace, the other man's nose tickling his sensitive skin. He sent a last glance into the mirror – more directed to his boyfriend than his own image - and then turned around, Aiba's hands sliding over the fabric of his suit but not letting go off him.

"Don't crinkle my splendid outfit," Nino said, faking a complaint, and tipped on Aiba's nose. "We should leave, we're running late."

~*~*~

They weren't late. On the contrary, they were among the first few guests to arrive. They ended up in a corner standing together, feeling a little lost with their welcome drinks that Mao had pressed into their hands quickly before she hurried away into the kitchen to check on the catering service to see if they got the right snacks. The two guys clinked glasses and downed half of the champagne before they started to explore the stunning and spacious house.

Mao apparently lived together with Matsumoto in the supermodel's house since years and her two colleagues felt a bit stupid for not knowing that at all. Well, Mao had kept her secret pretty well. And even now that the news about the model's pending marriage was out, everything was still kept private. At least, the young woman had mentioned that no press would to be on the guest list, neither for the engagement party, nor for the actual wedding ceremony, which was scheduled in a few weeks’ time.

Nino was examining a very expensive looking painting hanging over the couch in the living room very closely, when Aiba poked his side to make him turn around. The young man felt being caught red-handed when Mao was standing in front of him, clearing her throat, her fiancé in tow. Nino immediately let go of the painting and faced his colleague, grinning and blushing a little, not daring to look directly at the – even out of the corner of his eye – gorgeous looking young man next to her.

"Don't worry, you can touch it, it's just a replica," Matsumoto chuckled, facing the young man.

"Ah, is that so? Good then," Nino and Aiba joined the chuckling, but when Mao didn't, they shut up again immediately.

"Nino, Aiba-kun, this is my fiancé, Matsumoto Jun. Jun, my colleagues from work, I told you about them," Mao finally said, smiling and gesturing between the men.

Aiba immediately reached out his hand to shake Matsumoto's enthusiastically, bubbling about how he and Nino were fans of him and he always did a splendid job, while Nino felt embarrassed by Aiba's direct behaviour and just lowered his head in a deep bow as a greeting. Matsumoto gladly shook Aiba's hand and then even offered his hand to Nino, who took it, excitedly. It wasn't like you met celebrities on a daily basis, right?

"Thank you, I heard about the cute couple from Mao's working place. Nice to meet you guys in person, finally," the man said, flashing Nino a wide smile.

" _Cute couple_?" the young man repeated, before he blushed slightly and darted his eyes at Mao. "What are you telling other people about us?"

"What?" Mao shrugged her shoulders. "You're a couple and you're both cute, especially together."

"No need to spread that, though," Nino grumbled but quickly got interrupted by Aiba who let his arm sneak around his boyfriend's waist and pulled him a bit closer.

"No need to feel ashamed, Darling," he said, grinning and Nino decided to ignore him for a while upon the use of such a horrible pet name.

"They are _really_ cute," the couple heard Matsumoto saying to Mao as the two of them made their way to welcome some of the other guests, after wishing Nino and Aiba fun at the party and encouraging them to interact with other people too.

Indeed, the house was slowly but surely filling up with more and more people and soon music was playing in the background. To Nino's embarrassment he even recognized a few of his own songs in Mao's playlist. Drinks got refilled, snacks served, people introduced to each other and everyone was having a great time. People became a bit tipsy (Nino and Aiba included), the light got dimmed and Mao and her fiancé even opened a small "dance floor" in the middle of the huge living room, after pushing the low table and couch aside, which was soon joined by some of their friends.

One of Matsumoto's model colleagues, nobody else than evenly popular Ikuta Toma, seemed to have an eye on Aiba, trying to get him to dance with him but so far, Aiba declined, pointing at Nino to make it clear that he wasn't here alone. Nino on the other hand, was shooting Toma with a death glare, but still refusing to join Aiba dancing when his boyfriend asked him. So the two (three) of them were standing at the side a bit awkwardly, watching the others. Toma at least was swaying in the rhythm of the music. Then, suddenly, Nino's look fell on someone he wouldn't have expected to meet here.

"Eh?" it was Aiba though, who pointed it out first. "Isn't that Sakurai-san?"

"Yeah... it's him," Nino agreed, staring at his college friend, surprised.

"Maybe, that's your chance," his boyfriend slightly pushed him at the side. "You should go and settle things with him."

"What? Now?! Really? Does it have to be today?" Nino lamented immediately. He wasn't really ready for this, he had to admit. He didn't expect to meet Sho here, he didn't go through all the possible scenarios in his head yet, he didn't have the right words ready yet, he...

"The sooner, the better. I'll be waiting here," the taller man said with determination and pushed his boyfriend again, slightly, who lost his balance a bit. The alcohol doing its job, making him feel a bit dizzy already.

Nino looked at him, looked at Aiba's beautiful smile and he assumed that the alcohol wasn't the only thing that made him feel dizzy, his heartbeat was unstable. Aiba was right. It was time. They didn't really progress much since their last cinema date. They still dated each other, it didn't change. They went out for dinner, they kissed – a lot -, but nothing more had happened between them. Aiba was patiently waiting and giving Nino the promised time to become ready. And Nino had promised his boyfriend to settle things with Sho. So that they could progress. Right? He sighed, turning his head and as if Sho knew that they were talking about him, the man spotted his friend right at that moment, greeting him with a joyful wave of his hand. Nino answered the gesture before he turned back to Aiba.

"Don't let Toma-kun here jump at you while I'm gone," he then murmured, locking eyes with Aiba for a last time and then turned on his heel, heading in Sho's direction.

Sho seemed to have gotten himself a snack, stuffing his cheeks with a happy smile on his face. As Nino reached him, he lifted his arm to clink glasses with his friend. Nino was nervous, yes, even if the alcohol kind of soothed his mood. He hoped that it didn't show.

"Hey, there," the young man said.

"Hey, there," Sho answered, swallowing the last bit of his snack before he flashed Nino a smile. He grabbed another two snacks, handing one to Nino before he gestured his friend to move aside a bit so that they could chat without getting bumped by people stumbling from the dance floor or storming the buffet.

"I didn't expect you here," Nino said, deciding to start with a bit small talk.

Sho nodded. "Have to say the same. How's your connection to the happy couple?"

"Mao-chan is my friend and colleague at the music store."

"Oh, I see!" Sho's eyes widened. "How unlucky, I didn't see her the few times when I visited your store."

Nino shrugged, taking a bite from his snack. It was delicious. "What about you?"

"Jun-kun often works for publications of my company," Sho explained. "That's how we got to know."

" _Jun-kun_ , that sounds pretty familiar."

"Well, we're friends, sort of."

Nino couldn't prevent a probably pretty stupid grin on his lips any longer, with his cheeks feeling warm from the amusement. "Oh wow… _my_ friend is _friends_ with Mr. Fucking Sexy Supermodel Matsumoto Jun, that's so… cool," he giggled and his admiration was honest.

" _Mr. Fucking Sexy Supermodel_?" Sho chuckled amused and arched an eyebrow. "Look, did I find a fan of his?"

Nino gulped, cursing his, probably from the alcohol, too easy tongue. Well, _that_ might be a way to come out to one of your best friends too, even if it was definitely not the way Nino planned to do it. "Ah, oh well… you can't say he isn't an attractive man, right? Just stating facts here," maybe, Sho did not jump on the track yet.

"True. He wouldn't be as popular as he is, if he wasn't, right?"

Nino decided to trail off the road a little to take a small detour. "Uhm… Did you hear about that incident with the bear in the mountains that happened on the last Matsumoto and Mao's trip?"

Gladly, Sho trailed along. He didn't seem to mind. "The one where they got chased up to the top of the mountain where he asked her to marry him?"

"Sounds like a slightly different story than the one Mao-chan told me," Nino chuckled.

"Oh, I guess we get the idea, right?" Sho grinned. "However, Jun-kun really got into trouble for this with his agency, he told me."

"Because of the marriage?"

"No, because he endangered his flawless face with exposing it to a bear – so I guess that part of the story is true. I just wonder if they spotted the animal only from afar or if they really came close when even the management seemed to be worried that they _really_ got attacked."

"Unimaginable if the face of a model got scratched."

"Right?" Sho said, before he changed the topic. "So, are you alone here tonight?"

"I'm… not," Nino answered, honestly.

"Oh, your _kind of date_ accompanied you?" Sho grinned at him, referring to their talk in the bar some time ago.

"I'm here with… my friend."

"I see."

"He's my co-worker and Mao's too so… we got invited together," the young man continued stating the facts, wondering how vague he really should be. Shouldn't he just say he's here with his boyfriend? But that would probably be too fast.

"Makes sense."

"What about you?"

Sho swayed his glass a bit before taking another sip. "Well… Jun-kun invited me and Maki but… she recently contacted a lawyer, you see? So, we're not on best terms lately to go celebrate together."

"You're getting divorced for real?" Nino then asked, carefully. His heart constricted a little again at the imagination of Sho being _free_ again but for some reason, it didn't affect him as much as last time. Immediately, Aiba popped up his mind and he felt a bit guilty. "Are you sad?"

Sho tilted his head. "Maybe just a bit? Not that much though. I think it's better like this. And… soon I'm a free man and can search for a new woman if I feel like it. I mean, look, the party is full of beautiful women, isn't it?"

"Anyone your type here?" Nino asked and yeah, he had to admit, he was curious, even if he knew Sho would only look for girls. Well, he knew for 99 %.

"Hm…," Sho pursed his lips and let his eyes wander around. Then, he gestured with his glass in the direction of the buffet where a small, young and very beautiful woman was standing, trying to figure what she should get to eat. "You see that girl?" And with that, the last 1 % of insecurity was gone. "She's an acquaintance from work. Aoi Yu-chan. I think, she's kinda cute, isn't she?"

"I guess…," Nino answered, shrugging his shoulders. Surprisingly, he wasn't hurt. Maybe, because it wasn't really a surprise. Or didn't he care any longer?

"Who's your type, Nino?" his friend then asked and Nino almost choked on his drink.

"Oh well," he tried to find back his composure, tried to find his answer. He didn't want to lie, and come up with a type of girl he might like. It was time for the truth. "Sho-kun, listen… there's something I wanted to tell you."

"Hm?" the other gave his friend a questioning look.

"I wanted to tell you this ever since college, you know?" Nino said and then he downed the rest of his champagne, swallowing hard before he locked eyes with Sho again. Then he let his eyes trail down to Sho's lips and one thought popped up again his head. How would it feel like to kiss Sho? Maybe, this was his chance to find it out. His last chance… "Don't hate me for doing this now, OK?"

Sho tilted his head again and just as he asked "What is it, Nin-" he got interrupted by the other who had stepped forward and placed a small kiss on Sho's lips.

"-o… Oh!..." the taller guy stuttered as soon as Nino let go of him again. He looked puzzled and the younger couldn't blame him. "Wait, what was that?"

"A kiss," Nino murmured, frowning.

Or something like that. It hasn't really felt like a _kiss_. It hasn't _tasted_ like a kiss. Not like one of those that he had shared with Aiba recently. It had been a touch of their lips, yes, but… somehow, that was all about it. Unexpectedly, there were no sparks, no butterflies taking off Nino's stomach, his heartbeat hasn't really increased much, not more than it would from simply nervousness at least. It didn't make Nino _as nervous_ and excited as kissing Aiba. Nino had to admit, he was a little surprised. Or was it relief? He was confused. Again, he was simply confused.

"Uhm yeah but…," Sho frowned and Nino felt almost a little guilty for confusing the other _too_. "I mean, was that the alcohol or… you?"

Nino shrugged again. "I guess, both," he admitted, tilting his head as he tried to think about it himself. Still, he was confused. Or maybe, finally things were becoming clear in his mind and heart? However, he needed to bring this to an end. "I really liked you when we were in college, Sho. But I couldn't tell you."

"You mean you liked me _that_ way?" Sho wanted to confirm and Nino just nodded.

The truth was out and it wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. Finally, even the confusion got less and less and things started to shape in his mind properly. To be honest, Nino really felt kind of relieved. No matter how Sho would react now, it was one secret less pressing on his heart. One thing less to worry about because he had already found the answer he had been searching for a while now and somehow, Nino wondered, why he had to make it so hard for himself.

"What… wait, is _that_ why you started avoiding me after I met Maki?"

"Oh well, if I'm being honest already, yes," Nino nodded. "I'm sorry. I couldn't really cope with the situation back then."

"Nino… Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I never noticed that you…," his friend now said, looking a bit desperate. "You know, I really appreciate your feelings but... You know, I really like you, and if you were a girl, probably –"

"It's OK, Sho-kun, it's OK," Nino said, smiling. It was cute how Sho didn't want to hurt his feelings, despite the circumstances. It showed that he really was his friend. "It's in the past and I just… meeting you after such a long time made me think of it, you know? I'm sorry for the kiss. I guess, that was really the alcohol," he continued, trying to make things a bit easier.

"But… we, we are still friends, right?" Sho asked and he sounded seriously concerned. Nino was happy. Because yes, he definitely wanted to stay friends with Sho, especially now that he knew that this was the only way their relationship would work out for them – from both sides.

"If you don't mind having a gay friend?" Nino winked, jokingly.

"Of course not," Sho shook his head, determined. "This is still you and you're my precious friend. I don't want to lose you as my friend ever again, so please."

"Sure, don't worry. I'm fine with that. After all, I knew it wouldn't be possible. I just didn't want to be the coward I used to be, so I just wanted to tell you."

"I'm glad you did. Thank you," Sho smiled.

"It's thanks to my friend Aiba there," the younger turned a little, searching for his boyfriend and nodded in his direction when he spotted him, staring at them. Nino blushed a little, as he realized that Aiba must have watched him… uhm, well, let's say _touching Sho's lips_ and he felt a bit guilty. Did this count as _cheating_ already?!

"Ah! Your colleague from the music shop? So he's the one who got invited together with you?"

"Yes," Nino turned back to Sho, smiling at him. "He encouraged me to tell you in order not to have any regrets." Even if he didn't encourage him to _kiss_ Sho. Oh Gosh, that guilty conscious…

"He's right, I think. You have a good friend there."

"I know. He's a _very <_ good friend," Nino lowered his look, he knew Sho was right and he had to admit that he was an idiot for not realizing sooner how much of a good friend Aiba really was. No. Actually he was an idiot for not realizing how much of a good _boyfriend_ Aiba really was and in addition that he had already fallen deeply in love with him, even if he didn't know when exactly this happened. However, now with things between him and Sho cleared, he finally could be sure about his feelings. Now, he finally _knew_.

"…You two are just friends?" Sho then smirked, arching an eyebrow and Nino couldn't help but hide his blushing face behind his hand, giggling slightly.

"Well, actually, we're more than that, I think," he rubbed his neck, sheepishly, letting his eyes wander back to Aiba who seemed a bit tense now, still staring at them. Gosh, this scene must look terrible for the other man, Nino should better go and clarify things soon. "I wasn't completely sure… You see, that's another reason why I wanted to tell you about my feelings for you. Before I… well, get too deep with my _kind of date_ if you know what I mean."

Sho chuckled. "You wanted to clean up some old stuff?"

"That sounds mean…," Nino pouted, even if he knew that his friend was right.

Thank god, Sho didn't seem to be mad at him. "I know you don't mean it in a mean way, don't worry. You just needed a cut, right? To be able to start anew."

"I guess that's it. You're as smart as usual, Sho-kun," smart and much too nice probably. Nino wondered if he really deserved such good friends.

"So will you be able to do that now? Start anew? With him?" Sho nudged him in the side.

"If he still wants me, after I kissed another guy, yes," Nino chuckled, seriously hoping that he didn't screw up everything with Aiba now. His heartbeat became uncomfortably unsteady when he thought of the upcoming conversation with his boyfriend. "And I'm really sorry for using you to clarify my weird issues."

Sho shook his head. "It's OK, Nino. No bad blood. I'm glad if I could help you to figure something out."

"You know, you're a pretty good friend too," the smaller man said, nudging Sho back.

"I hope so!"

Then, to Sho's surprise, Nino lowered his head, bowing in front of him. "I'm sorry for being such a shitty friend for the past few years."

The other chuckled softly and touched his elbow to make him stand up straight again, showing him that there was no need to lowering his head. "I'll grant you the next few ones to make up for it."

"You're too good to me," Nino smiled at him, sincerely.

Sho looked aside and his face took an expression between amusement and insecurity. "I think you should go now, your _friend_ is staring at us very critically and I think he wants to kill me."

Indeed, Aiba didn't look very pleased, Nino had to admit and he felt his heart sinking in his stomach. "I'll kick him if he tries," he promised, jokingly though.

Sho laughed joyfully and patted his friend's shoulder. "Have a nice evening you two."

"Sure thing. Thanks, Sho-kun. You too."

"I'll count you two in for Karaoke next weekend. Deal?" the taller guy asked with a broad smile.

"Deal!" Nino agreed, nodding.

He waved good-bye to his friend and finally turned to focus on Aiba again. The other was pretending to look in another direction, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his suit's trousers, pouting. So he _was_ huffy, Nino thought, biting his lower lip. Damned. He shouldn't have _kissed_ Sho in front of his boyfriend, that _really_ went too far, even if the other had encouraged him to clean his old stories. He really felt guilty now, wondering if Aiba would forgive him. Because he really wanted him to forgive and forget what just happened and to accept him and his – finally cleared – feelings.

Nino took a deep breath before he started walking, determined, one step after another, until he was standing in front of his boyfriend, who was still not facing him properly. However, Nino could see that Aiba was hesitant. His eyes weren't focused and it didn't take long until the taller finally gave in and turned his head towards Nino who was standing in front of him, his head lowered slightly while he looked up at the other insecurely, feeling like a piece of shit.

"I… I think, we need to talk," Nino said, averting his eyes.

Aiba just nodded, agreeing and then there was a very long pause, both of them saying nothing at all. And now? Nino's words, an apology that he had put ready for his strange behaviour, were stuck in his throat. His heartbeat was killing him.

Surprisingly, it was Aiba who caved first, and surprisingly, he didn't say anything about the scene he witnessed but in a very sweet, even slightly sad sounding voice he said, "I already told you how good you look today. But may I tell you again that you look just gorgeous? Especially when you smile. Please smile for me, Nino."

Nino blushed deeply and his heart skipped a beat. Aiba was impossible, really. How could he tell him something like that now? Did he really misinterpret the situation with Sho? Did he think Nino came to end things with him now? First, the young man didn't know how he should react, then, despite his guilty conscious, he decided to tease Aiba a little.

"You're a charmer, Aiba," Nino said, poking Aiba's hip. "Trying to hide your jealousy behind some compliments?"

"Tsk… I'm just telling the truth," Aiba said and Nino wondered if it was a reference to him being honest to Sho just before and yes, he was right. "So you confessed to Sho-kun? Uhm well, obviously, I mean… you even _kissed_ him… What did he say? He didn't kill you so I guess he's at least fine with having a gay friend or…"

Nino smiled at Aiba's cuteness. He seemed seriously worried. "He's _not_ interested in a relationship with me if that's what you fear. And I'm not interested either."

Aiba blinked. "You're not?"

"We settled things," Nino continued his report. "He said he's glad I told him that I liked him but he wouldn't be able to answer my feelings and wants us to stay friends."

" _Liked_? Past tense?" Aiba asked and Nino nodded. "Are you disappointed?"

The younger man shook his head. "No, I'm not. I guess I already moved on from my old feelings more than I knew," he admitted. "But he kind of helped me to figure out something that was troubling me."

"Eeh? Don't tell me… did he help you to realize who you _really_ have a crush on?" Aiba smirked sillily, slightly wiggling his eyebrows. Yeah, he had his composure back, definitely.

Nino chuckled and decided to tease his boyfriend a little more. "You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you?"

Aiba ignored his statement. "Did it feel good? The kiss?"

"You're too curious, man…"

The taller man pouted. "I want to know, so tell me."

"Not as good as I expected," Nino answered, honestly and he had to suppress an amused chuckle when he saw Aiba's face lighting up.

"Am I a better kisser?"

"You're a bigger idiot."

Aiba smirked. "You like me more than him now, don't you?"

"Maybe," Nino smirked back.

"Come on, just say it!" Aiba nudged him impatiently, but beaming in joy. "Do I still have to convince you?"

No, Nino thought, but he was too shy to admit it.

"What about a kiss?" Aiba then suggested, reaching for Nino's waist to pull him a bit closer.

"You're asking _too much_ , Aiba," Nino said. Aiba smirked and leaned down, intending to kiss Nino but the younger stopped him with his hand on Aiba's lips. "Not _here_ idiot," Nino whispered and Aiba could spot a deep blush on his boyfriend's cheeks. He was back to shy mode, obviously. "I don't want people to think that I'm a slut, kissing two different guys at the same party…"

"You're not a slut, Nino," Aiba chuckled amused.

"Let's leave," the other suggested, turning in the slight embrace and nodding towards the corridor, gesturing his boyfriend to follow him.

"Ah, wait, I forgot something," Aiba suddenly said and turned, seemingly searching for something – or someone.

Nino looked at him questioningly and he was even more surprised when Aiba patted the shoulder of that Toma guy from before, turned him and placed a hasty kiss on the model's lips. Toma stared at Aiba before he broke into a wide smile, just to pout when the taller clarified that this was a "one-time-thing" and apologized immediately. Nino just gaped at his boyfriend, stunned.

"What…," he formed a question with his lips, pointing at Toma, but Aiba just looked at him, shrugging his shoulders.

" _You_ kissed another man, _I_ kissed another man, I'd say, we're even," he concluded and well, Nino figured that he would have to accept this.

He didn't say anything, but darted another death glare at Toma, who looked at him, raising his eyebrows as if he was asking what about this was actually _his_ fault and then he reached for Aiba's elbow, pulling him with him.

"Where are we going?" Aiba asked curiously, stepping behind the other after they waved at Mao and Jun before leaving.

Nino stepped out through the door, the cool night air hitting his face. He turned at his boyfriend who looked at him, anticipating. 

"Your place?"

Aiba smiled widely. "Sounds good."

TBC


	6. Proof of Love

When Aiba took Nino's hand as they walked to the train station, Nino didn't complain. He also didn't complain when Aiba continued holding firmly onto his hand when they stood there waiting for the train or even when they entered the train, exposing their joined hands to the eyes of strangers. Nino blushed a little but soon, Aiba had shifted him into a corner, forming a barrier around Nino with his body to shield him from other people. Nino's heart was pounding like crazy. Their linked hands, Aiba's intense stare on him, this was just too much. There was this gorgeous smile on Aiba's lips, on Aiba's just so wonderful lips and Nino could swear, if the other man would lean down and kiss him right now, he wouldn't give a fuck that they were still on public transports. He would kiss Aiba back until someone would call the police. Seriously, he had a hard time to control himself and not to reach up to Aiba's neck pulling him down immediately.

Aiba was right, he was a good kisser. A _very_ good kisser. Nino could confirm that much, after all, they had shared quite some kisses lately and they never failed to make him melt. Their kisses were always breath taking and more than once Nino had to stop them so that they wouldn't get carried away. He hadn't wanted to bring things with Aiba to a higher level – at least not until he was sure about his feelings for that man. However, _now_ , he was absolutely sure about them. 

He liked him. A lot. More than he thought. And he could confirm now that the sexual attraction he felt towards his boyfriend wasn't just curiosity or something Aiba forced on them. It was real. And now that Nino finally allowed himself those thoughts and feelings, they were growing even more. Growing immensely, building up desire within himself that he didn't even know he was able to hold. Was this what they called being in love? It felt so different from the time when he fell for Sho, years ago. It felt good, better. Maybe, because this time it wasn't just the one-sided secret admiration but something more _real_. Nino couldn't remember when he felt anything like this in his life before.

He wanted Aiba. Everything of him. Not only his friendship, he wanted more. Not only their experimental dates, he wanted more. He wanted to become one with that man and be with him forever. Probably, he _really_ was in love with him.

The realization hit Nino hard and he was about to freak out when this tiny little monster called "doubt" let out just a little groan deep inside his mind. Not because of Sho, no, that topic was no longer an issue. But his and Aiba's starting point… was it enough for a relationship? A _real_ relationship?

When Aiba pressed Nino's hand slightly and flashed him another happy smile, the little monster in Nino's head shut up immediately – at least for now - and he blushed, feeling his knees almost giving in. Yeah, it could be enough for a relationship. At least, he couldn't say before trying, right? And they had _practised_ quite well already. Maybe it was time to seriously give it a try. Everything included.

Nino's heart continued pounding hard in his chest as he and Aiba exited the train and trailed along the road heading to Aiba's apartment. He found his pace speeding up a bit, impatiently, Aiba adjusting his steps immediately without even needing to be told. A pleasant shiver run down Nino's spine when his and Aiba's eyes met in the dim light of the streetlamps lining the path through the park near Aiba's home and he couldn't prevent the smile on his lips. He silently chuckled at himself. He must look like a fool but most likely, this wasn’t the right time to care about it.

When they enter Aiba's apartment, pulling off their shoes, to Aiba's surprise it was Nino who pushed him slightly against the wall next to the shoe cabinet and reached up a bit to brush his lips against Aiba's, deepening the kiss almost immediately by parting his lips and allowing Aiba's tongue to invade his hot mouth. Nino's heart jumped and he could feel the tension between them like electric sparkles. Aiba didn't complain and wrapped his arms around Nino's body, hugging him close and kissing him firmly until they parted lips again. They were panting, their chests lowering and rising rapidly and Aiba smirked at the cute red blush on his boyfriend's face.

"What a kiss," the taller man murmured smiling. "So now it's OK?"

"I told you already, you're _asking_ too much," Nino replied embarrassed and reached up again to pull Aiba into another hot kiss.

Aiba brought his hands up to Nino's arms, slightly pushing him back, making Nino grunt unwillingly. The taller man chuckled amused at the so far unknown neediness of his boyfriend and gripped his hand firmly just to pull him through the corridor further into the apartment. They moved to the bed standing in the middle of the living space and Aiba motioned the other man to sit down and make himself comfortable. He placed a small kiss on Nino's forehead and patted his thigh before he turned to the kitchen counter to get them something to drink while Nino took off his suit's jacket. It was just too hot in here...

Nino could only stare at his boyfriend, following his every movements. He wasn't sure if he was still tipsy from the alcohol he consumed at Mao-chan's engagement party or if he was truly drunk from love, but he felt kind of high. A good kind of high. Aiba looked even more gorgeous than usual, the fine suit made him look so damned attractive while the already slightly dishevelled hair (caused by Nino as the younger noted in satisfaction) gave him a very hot appearance, the gap underlining it. Yeah, hot was the right word. Aiba was hot. And Nino wanted Aiba's lips back on his. Like now.

Aiba sat down next to Nino, placing their glasses on a low table in front of the bed. Nino ignored the drinks and instead reached his hands out to touch the other man again. It was like he was under a spell, like he just wasn't able to keep his hands to himself. His eyes glued on Aiba, Nino hoped that he didn't look as desperate as he felt right now. He just wanted to kiss Aiba again and again and never ever stop.

"Wow, so eager tonight," Aiba chuckled before his lips formed an adorably happy smile. "Not that I'm complaining, but you're so different suddenly… Tell me, what's going on in your pretty head right now, Nino?"

The questioned man took a deep breath and he felt his cheeks burning when he answered with the only thing that he was able to say at that moment. "I want to kiss you."

Aiba stared at his boyfriend, not used to such straightforwardness. Wasn’t it him who had to initiate the kissing usually? Hadn't he felt happy each time Nino didn't push him away because he felt embarrassed or wasn't in the mood? But now it was different and it made Aiba's heart startle in joy.

"You want to kiss me…," he repeated, not able to prevent the gleeful smile on his lips.

"You – you are a really good kisser," Nino continued, his cheeks flushed red.

Aiba pumped his hand in the air in a victory gesture, joyfully. "Yes!! I knew it!"

"Idiot!" Nino hit his head slightly but Aiba ignored it and burst out laughing.

He bent over, cupping Nino's face and again they kissed, passionately, until both of them were breathless again. Aiba felt Nino coming closer, pressing his body against him needily, looking at him with glassy eyes, like in trance, his lips red and slightly swollen from all the kissing but still not kissed enough. Aiba blushed, his heart was beating faster than ever and he was _really_ getting… excited. It became hard for him to control himself and to resist the urge to just push the other onto his bed and… no, he had to be patient.

 _This_ right now was so precious after all, he couldn't believe that it was happening. Did he finally win over Nino's heart? Did he finally make the other fall for him as well? Because _he_ fell for him. Hard. He didn't even expect it to be possible. Sure, he wanted to give them a try, it was _his_ idea after all to try dating and falling in love. Plus, he liked Nino from the beginning, even found him cute and adorable and attractive, so he was indeed the _ideal candidate_. But Aiba didn't expect that he would fall for his friend so deeply for real and so quickly, if not to say immediately. Now they were dating for a couple of weeks and he was seriously enjoying it and seriously in love while Nino had been still reserved for some reason – well most likely because of Sho - probably not taking Aiba and their relationship seriously. But now, it was different. Did Nino finally fall in love too?

Aiba pulled back a little, his eyes still focused on Nino's. He was dying to lean down and kiss him again. He was dying to let his hands hover over Nino's body, allowing them to explore it. To undress him and to make love to him on the spot. To make them feel the pleasure that they hadn’t share yet, to turn Nino into a moaning, helpless mess underneath his hands, something that the younger man prohibited him from doing so far. He wanted everything.

"So… what do you want to do now?" Aiba asked, nervous and maybe sounding like a big fool right now, but he knew, he had to let Nino make the decision.

"Seriously, do I have to _say_ it?" the other groaned, knitting his eyebrows.

"Well… I want to be sure, after all," Aiba pouted. Seriously, sometimes he didn't get this guy. It was impossible to read his thoughts or to predict his actions. It was an interesting treat but it didn't make things especially easy. He needed a little help from Nino…

"I'm not here to watch a movie if that's what you mean," Nino murmured, blushing nicely. No that wasn't his intention, definitely not.

"Just wanted to make sure," Aiba grinned satisfied, allowing himself to take the hint.

It was awkward, yes, definitely. Nino didn't really know how to start this, but talking about it was definitely not on his list. He reached with his hand to cup Aiba's face again and pull him closer for another kiss. His eyes fluttered shut as he touched Aiba's lips, first softly, tenderly, fully enjoying the sensation. The butterflies in his stomach took off when Aiba reached his hands to grab Nino's neck, and deepened their kiss again. Aiba moaned silently and when Nino felt Aiba's other hand pulling his dress shirt out from his trousers and slipping underneath the shirt, he shivered slightly, pleasured. He felt the strong, warm hand sliding to his back, pulling him closer, affirming his intentions. Yes, Nino was ready to abandon himself to that man in whose hands he was about to melt now. He was ready to give him everything he might wish for.

They were so close and about to cross the line. A line that Nino set for them some weeks ago when he was still insecure, unsure what exactly Aiba wanted from him, from _them_. They had approached the line, yes, several times even, but so far they never crossed it. Tonight, it would be a first and right now, up here on cloud nine, Nino hoped that everything would go well and it wouldn't be a last time. He was nervous. He couldn't remember anything more exciting and thrilling than this moment right now. His heart was about to burst. Well, his heart as well as his pants, to be honest.

Nino's arms still circled around Aiba's neck, the taller man finally pushed his boyfriend back, easily slipping between Nino's willingly parted legs, bouncing Nino onto the soft blanket, giggling slightly into their kiss. Aiba's lips started trailing from Nino's lips down to his neck. He kissed the corner of Nino's lips, his cheek, the line of his jaw, and he enjoyed the comforting vibration of Nino's throat when the other let out another moan. Aiba's fingers were quick to loosen the neatly tied necktie around Nino's neck and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. He placed another kiss onto Nino's collarbones and smirked in satisfaction when his trailing hands run over Nino's chest, feeling his fast beating heart.

The younger man's whole body was shaking now, soon he would be the moaning mess Aiba wanted to turn him into, but obviously, he tried to hold back, seemingly embarrassed judging from his red flushed cheeks and his turned away face. Aiba couldn't help but find Nino's profile incredibly attractive. He swallowed and continued unbuttoning his boyfriend's shirt until it was just drapping his body loosely. Nino gasped when Aiba ran his hands over his stomach, tickling his warm skin, and he held his breath when Aiba started kissing the sensitive area around his belly button. The younger man lifted his trembling hands and put them onto Aiba's shoulders to find something to hold onto, to stabilize. While Aiba continued caressing his body, Nino tried hard to give him some caresses as well, letting one of his hands brush through Aiba's hair lovingly and his boyfriend couldn't help but find it incredibly cute, enjoying the touch of Nino's fingers.

Aiba trailed back up, spreading kisses all over Nino's body, allowing his tongue to play a bit with Nino's nipples, causing the other almost to forget how to breathe. The taller man paused when his kisses reached his boyfriend's chin again, looking at him intensely. They were gasping in unison as they locked eyes. Nino swallowed, his now slightly dry lips pressing close for a second and then he ran the tip of his tongue over his lips. He buried his hands deeper in Aiba's hair and pulled him down again to seal their lips in a desperate kiss. His fingers wandered down the silhouettes of Aiba's face, down his neck, until Nino reached the collar of his still buttoned up shirt. With slightly shaking, clumsy fingers he hurried through undoing Aiba's tie, then started to open his shirt's buttons and let his hands slide onto the man's naked skin.

Immediately, Aiba caught up, he parted lips from Nino to sit up and finished his boyfriend's task, quickly getting rid of his shirt that he threw somewhere on the bed. Nino gulped again at the sight of Aiba's muscular and broad upper body, it looked exactly as he had imagined it. His body was toned – not too much -, providing the image of someone strong and able to protect his beloved ones, and there was Aiba's infamous large birthmark running down his shoulder, of which Nino had only heard and seen parts during summer so far. Overall, Aiba was simply incredibly sexy.

Aiba smiled, enjoying the excited glint in Nino's eyes, feeling the fire between them. They kissed again, feverishly, their hands fumbling between them to loose belts, unbutton and unzip their trousers, their hands pressing against their obvious erections through the fabric of their clothes. Aiba could already feel some precum leaking through Nino's briefs, his cock hard and hot under his hands. He sat up again, reached for the waistband of his lover's trousers and gestured to him to lift his hips so that he could pull them down in one go – briefs included. He threw away Nino's clothes, leaving the other only half dressed in his unbuttoned shirt and he swore, if he didn't pull himself together, he could come on the spot inside his pants. Seeing Nino lying in front of him like this was like a fantasy coming true.

Quickly, Aiba stood up, disposed the rest of his own clothes and stepped toward the bedside table to pull out some lube and a condom that he had stored in a drawer. He threw them onto the blanket next to Nino so that they were in reach when they needed them and flashed the young man a meaningful smile. He kneeled on the bed again, still towering over Nino to enjoy the pleasant view of his anticipating boyfriend. His member twitched when he saw Nino's look trailing down his body until it was obviously focusing on Aiba's proud erection. Nino swallowed again.

Just the moment when Aiba wanted to lean down and crawl closer to the younger man again, Nino suddenly sat up, bumping his head against Aiba's clumsily, startling the other.

"Ah, I'm sorry," the smaller murmured, rubbing his own forehead while Aiba looked at him surprised.

He chuckled. "Slowly, slowly, what are you up to?" he asked his boyfriend.

Nino blushed and tried to pull his loose shirt a bit tighter around his body shyly, bringing his hands in front of him as if he wanted to hide his own erection. He was so embarrassed, so cute. He locked eyes with Aiba who was kneeling in front of him and then, Nino crawled a bit closer, before he lifted his hands and placed them on Aiba's hips. He let his hands run over the toned body, the muscles of his stomach, allowing them to trail along the fine line of hair guiding downwards. His cute small hands embraced Aiba's shaft carefully. Their eyes were still locked.

"Please," Nino whispered almost voicelessly while starting to let his grip loosely run up and down Aiba's hard cock. "I just want to…"

He didn't say anything more and Aiba didn't reply either, astonished by Nino's sudden initiative, something he didn't expect at all. The young man lowered his eyes, watching his actions on Aiba and the taller man could see his boyfriend parting his lips slightly after a few more strokes. No, did he plan to…

Nino's second hand joining his grip around Aiba's cock, and he parted his lips further, darting his tongue to lick over the slit of Aiba's dripping member, tasting his precum. Aiba shuddered in pleasure, pulling in some air and a silent moan escaped from his lips. Nino looked up, searching for Aiba's eyes as he placed his lips on the tip of his boyfriend's penis before he let it slide into his hot wet mouth, slowly, almost _too_ slowly, turning Aiba crazy with his action.

"Gosh, Nino," Aiba whispered as he reached out his hand to bury it in Nino's soft black hair.

The young man pulled back, freeing Aiba's member from the cave of his mouth, just to let it slide in again, this time faster, repeating the movement over and over, while one of his hands glided down to massage Aiba's balls. The taller man tilted his head back, closing his eyes and moaned loudly. His hips started moving forward, slightly, seeking more contact, faster movements, more, just _more_ – until Aiba froze and put his hands on Nino's shoulders, causing him to stop.

"Wait, wait," he panted, looking at his boyfriend again. "Stop, or I swear, I'll come down your throat."

Nino wasn't sure if this was meant as a threat or a promise but decided to listen to his boyfriend and stop his movement for now. He let Aiba's member slip out slowly one last time, his eyes glued on the pulsating, thick cock coated in precum and his own saliva. His heart was beating like crazy, his own member twitching in pleasant anticipation of what might follow. Aiba reached to pull Nino up so that they could face each other. His cheeks were burning red and Nino found him so beautiful at this very moment, he wouldn't have been able to describe it with words.

They held on to each other's bodies, Aiba cupping Nino's face while the other's hands rested on Aiba's hips and they shared another wet kiss, saliva smearing the corners of their lips. Then, Aiba reached down, grabbing the condom and the small bottle of lube. He handed the condom package to Nino, asking him to put it on for him and so Nino unwrapped the package and carefully rolled down the condom onto Aiba's length while his boyfriend poured some lube onto his fingers. He searched for Nino's lips again and pressed their bodies close, their cocks brushing against each other, while he let his hands slide underneath the smaller man's loose shirt, around his waist, down his butt cheeks. He let one of his lubed fingers slide between them, finding Nino's entrance immediately. Aiba smirked against his boyfriend's lips as the tight ring of muscles twitched against his first touch, and started rubbing the spot slowly, trying to make the other man relax.

Nino was indeed a mess now, pressing his body against Aiba weakly, spreading his knees slightly so that his boyfriend could reach his hole more easily, moaning into their kiss. Aiba carefully pressed the tip of his finger against the ring of muscles again, this time feeling less resistance and so he pushed forward a little, penetrating Nino. The young man hissed and tightened shortly but loosened quickly again, giving Aiba the chance to move his finger.

"You're tight…," Aiba whispered into Nino's ear before he nibbled on his ear lobe.

"Any stupid comments, and I swear, I'll hit you," Nino hissed, flushed red. He shivered, trying hard to get used to the sensation. It has been a while, indeed, since he…

"I love our lover's quarrels," Aiba chuckled amused and placed a kiss on Nino's sensitive neck, causing him to moan uncontrollably. The young man's excitement was just too obvious.

"Shut up now please and just… keep on," Nino whimpered and Aiba would be a liar if he said that this didn't turn him on.

Slowly, he moved in and out, again and again. Nino's body started moving against his hand, deepening the contact, getting used to the sensation, slowly. Aiba reached up with his free hand, pushing the fabric of Nino's shirt down his shoulder and Nino, his body shaking, finally got rid of it, exposing his complete nakedness to his boyfriend. Aiba leaned down to kiss Nino's neck, trailing kisses along his shoulder. After another kiss on Nino's eager lips, Aiba showed him to turn his back at him and Nino moved, Aiba's finger slipping out from his body.

The taller man moved both of their bodies to lie down on the bed, sideward. He place himself behind Nino, before he reached again to his lover's entrance, continuing his preparation while he slipped his other hand around Nino's waist, searching for the younger man's abandoned member. Nino moaned at the double sensation, arching his back slightly for a moment, making Aiba's finger intrude deeper. He yelped.

Aiba continued pushing his fingers in and out of Nino steadily, working himself deeper with each thrust and adding a second, soon a third finger to gradually spread his lover while he masturbated him with his other hand, making his pleasure grow more and more. His own erected member was pressing against the young man's spine, swelling more and more, becoming almost painful. Aiba's breath became unsteady, like the movement of his hand around Nino's hard cock. He started moving his whole body slightly in the rhythm of his hand movements, his member rubbing against Nino's back, up and down, up and down…

Suddenly, Nino laid his hand onto Aiba's, which was still wrapped around his dick, making him stop. He reached back then, his hand searching for Aiba's member and he wrapped his fingers around it again, moving slowly up and down. He then tried to move his body a bit up, causing Aiba's finger to slip out of his body and then, Aiba took the initiative again. He slightly pressed the tip of his cock against Nino's entrance, entering his hot body slowly, inch per inch. Nino moaned and his hands grabbed the fabric of the blanket to hold on something. Aiba paused halfway, looking at Nino as he leaned a bit over him from behind and he reached one hand to push some strands of hair out of his boyfriend's face. The young man had a slightly painful look on his face and was clenching his teeth, breathing in between them, but he didn't complain. He nodded slightly, as if he knew that Aiba was waiting for some kind of sign to keep on and the taller man pushed further, taking his time, until he was filling Nino entirely. He moaned and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the hotness embracing his member, enjoying the feeling of completing Nino, being one with him.

Aiba placed a kiss on the back of Nino's neck, covering his shoulder blade with more kisses and let his hand run over his boyfriend's arm, until he found his hand, still clenching the blanket. He intertwined his fingers with Nino's while leaning his chest against his back. He waited a little longer before he started to move, pulling out slowly, and slipping back again. Nino clenched Aiba's fingers firmly but soon, the pain seemed to be gone and a pleasured look covered the young man's face. His breath steadied, his moans adjusted to their rhythm and he even moved his body a bit, meeting Aiba's movements. The taller man still trailed kisses all over his boyfriend's back until he couldn't concentrate at all any longer, just focusing on the back and forth movement, his speed increasing steadily. Nino reached with his free hand down between his legs, touching himself, enjoying the doubled pleasure to the fullest.

Nino saw stars and yelped again when Aiba hit that one special spot within him, he took a deep breath, he tightened, causing Aiba to groan and stop moving for a second. Then he resumed his movement, hitting Nino's spot again and again, until the young man was constantly screaming, his hand clenching around his proud member. He pulled his legs up slightly, his toes curled and a second later he released, freeing his seed which spilled all over his hand, spreading over the blanket. Nino tightened again as he rode through his orgasm, causing an amazing sensation to Aiba that made the other lose ground too. A few more pushes, deeper, deeper, and Aiba burst as well, spilling his load into the condom, his cock buried deep in his boyfriend's ass. He rocked his hips forth once more, his eyes were closed and he could literally smell the sex in the air, it was just incredible.

Aiba collapsed against Nino's back, burying his face against his neck, his hot breath panting against the radiating warmth skin. Their hands were still joined, even if sweaty and sticky, just like their bodies. Aiba kissed Nino's neck over and over, until Nino, still breathing heavily, turned his head, trying to face Aiba to look at him. His eyes were shining, his cheeks burning red and the hair covering his forehead slightly stuck to his skin, sweaty. He looked beautiful. Just beautiful.

Eagerly, Nino's lips searched for Aiba's and they shared a very long kiss. It wasn't a passionate one like those hungry ones they shared before, it was just a long, tender kiss, their lips brushing against each other, caressing, lovingly. Aiba felt Nino's lips curl up into a smile and his heart jumped with Nino's happiness.

He pulled out from his lover's body and got rid of the condom. After he threw it away, he fetched some tissues to help Nino cleaning himself and the stained blanket. Afterwards, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, hugging him close and Nino nuzzled his nose against Aiba's neck while circling his arms around the taller man's waist. Finally, Aiba pulled the blanket from underneath to cover them and protect them from the cold air in his room, which was hitting their still slightly sweaty bodies. They cuddled even closer, chuckling happily. They didn't talk but shared another few kisses while their eyelids became heavier. Finally, Nino fell asleep in Aiba's arms, his lips slightly parted and his breath becoming deep and steady. Aiba leaned his forehead against his boyfriend's and lovingly brushed his fingers over Nino's cheeks. He was happy, truly happy right now, he couldn't even believe how lucky he was to lie here with his precious boyfriend.

Before he slipped into dreamland himself, Aiba placed another kiss on Nino's mouth and whispered a voiceless, “I love you,” against his lips.

~*~

When Nino woke up the next morning and did not find himself in his own room, he slightly panicked. Just a few seconds though, until he felt some strong arms wrap around him, felt warm breath hitting his shoulder - his naked shoulder – and remembered where he was. He blushed, realizing that he was lying underneath a blanket _completely_ naked and when he turned his head and saw Aiba – naked as well – the recollection of the previous night overwhelmed him. 

His heart started beating faster; he could feel his cheeks getting hot. He let the evening replay in his mind. The party, the conversation with Sho, the kiss that didn't feel like a kiss, his "escape" from the party together with Aiba and then… more kisses (this time feeling _pretty much_ like kisses) and… yeah. Then they had sex. Not drunken sex, they both might have been a bit tipsy but far from being drunk, Nino was hundred percent sure about it. But they had sex. Passionate, wonderful, breath-taking and whole-hearted sex. It was just _amazing_.

Nino turned around in Aiba's embrace. He smiled as he saw the man's beautiful face in complete peace, his mind still up in the clouds of the dream factory. Aiba murmured something in his sleep that Nino couldn't understand but his smile got even wider. The young man reached out his hand, cupping Aiba's face, letting his fingers run over the warm skin. Probably without noticing, Aiba hugged Nino tighter, a smile adorning his lips as they cuddled closer. The younger chuckled softly.

Last night was perfect. His boyfriend was just perfect. Yeah, his _boyfriend_. Maybe this was the first time that Nino thought about this term in connection with Aiba and _truly_ accepted it as a description of the other. Their relationship had been strange from the beginning. A bunch of experiments, some kind of forced, half-hearted, and confusing.

Things were clearer now, at least, that was what Nino thought last night or even just a second before as he found himself wrapped into Aiba's embrace. But somehow, he felt this old insecurity invading his thoughts again. Wasn't this too good to be true? Was it realistic that his love life finally worked out? Did it even work out at all? He and Aiba have yet to talk about anything that happened last night, they had been too busy with hugging, kissing and having sex after all… what if Aiba found it horrible and didn't really plan to repeat that? What if this was just a test to find out if their relationship really had the needed _potential_ Aiba was looking for in his ideal relationship?

Nino said it before, their relationship had been strange from the beginning. A bunch of experiments, some kind of forced, half-hearted, and confusing… wasn't it? To be honest, Nino had been so concerned about his own mess of feelings that he had no idea what Aiba was feeling currently. 

Yes, for him, things have changed after he settled things with Sho. The conversation and the kiss had triggered the realization of Nino's true feelings, had cleared his confusion over liking two people at the same time. It had pushed him to where he really wanted to be – in Aiba's arms. But for Aiba, what did all this mean for Aiba? Sure, they had sex. But was it something based on love, bringing their relationship to a new level, like it was for Nino, or was it more some kind of step that Aiba wanted to check on his list for the relationship that he had planned, that he had _decided_ on?

 _Maybe, you're still his experiment, for now and ever, he just wanted a relationship after all, didn't he? Maybe he doesn't particularly want YOU,_ the little monster in Nino's head whispered, crawling closer and nibbling on his heart. He tried to ignore it, tried to push it away, but it was so damned persistent. _If you invest your feelings into this, you'll get hurt. This is unreal. He doesn't love you, don't be so naïve. You're too deep in this shit already. Get away before it's too late._

Nino was scared. He was so used to loving someone without being loved back for _years_ , and the whole thing with Aiba was still new for him that somehow Nino couldn't help but doubt Aiba's motives again, thinking that Aiba only liked him because he "decided" to do so. _Panic_ crawled up his chest, joining forces with _doubt_ to poison his heart and Nino was torn between fighting those feelings and giving in, insecure, despaired over what to believe and who to trust. Maybe, he needed some time to think about this, thoroughly, alone. Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

He slipped out of Aiba's embrace, carefully not to wake him and sat up, scanning the room, searching for his clothes that he spotted lying on the floor next to the bed. He should get dressed and leave before his _boyfriend_ (why did that term sound so strange again now after he just gotten used to it?) woke up. He didn't know what to tell him if he asked what was going on. The confusion was still too much.

But then, just when Nino wanted to get up, lifting his weight from the bed, it was like Aiba felt the exact moment that Nino was about to leave. As if he had been waiting for this moment, he woke up and clasped Nino's wrist, pulling him back. Nino turned his head, terrorized, and looked into Aiba's wondering, and worrying eyes. Could he see through him already?

Aiba sat up too, rubbing his eyes with his free hand, the other still holding onto the younger man as if he feared that Nino might jump up and run away the second he loosened his grip. 

"Nino, where are you going?" the man asked, his voice rough and heavy from sleep.

"I… I just have to go," Nino stammered, avoiding Aiba's eyes sheepishly.

"Why?" the other man asked in a low voice. He sounded seriously concerned. Or did Nino imagine what he wanted to hear?

He tried to come up with an excuse. "Uhm… I… my mom called me, she… needs me."

"You're lying," Aiba said and well, Nino had to admit that had been lame of him.

"I'm not," the younger bit his lower lip, trying to keep up his little lie.

"Come on, Nino, it's so obvious, you're running away." Somehow, Aiba sounded sad.

Nino brushed his free hand over his face, still avoiding looking at the other. He didn't know how to say it, how to explain it… "I just… I _can't_ ," was everything he could say, hoping that Aiba would get what he meant.

The other man crawled closer, still holding Nino's wrist. He pulled the blanket with him, sat down next to the young man and pulled the blanket over them to prevent his boyfriend from freezing. Indeed, Nino was shivering slightly, even if he was sure that it was more from the nervousness invading his thoughts than the cool air.

"Can't what?" Aiba asked in a soft voice, his eyes glued on Nino. "Stay here with me? Be my boyfriend? Seriously, Nino, what's your problem? Talk to me! I thought everything's good between us. I mean, we even had just freaking awesome _sex_ -," Aiba tried to intertwine their fingers, but Nino refused, fisting his hand.

"Could you, _could you_ just _stop_ talking about it?!" he turned to Aiba, his face deeply red. "That's so embarrassing…"

"You're here with me in my bed, we're both naked," Aiba started listing the facts. "We spent an incredible night together and did things that I could just dream of yet. Is there really anything left for you to be embarrassed about in front of me?"

 _My feelings,_ Nino thought. He was embarrassed to talk about his feelings. To admit that he has fallen in love and now was scared to loose what he wished to have, namely what he shared with Aiba yesterday, not only the sex of course, but the full relationship package. 

"I don't want to talk about all this, OK?" He was so bad at this.

"You just want to back off now after we had _you-know-what_ , and don't wanna talk about… us?" the taller man asked.

"Aiba, please…"

"Do you want to break up with me? Was it _that_ bad?!"

Nino froze. _No!_

He finally faced his boyfriend, his eyes speaking volumes of his insecurity and he slightly parted his lips, wanting to reply but nothing came out. He averted his eyes. Aiba frowned, sadly. He finally let go off Nino's wrist, just to reach his hands to Nino's arms, making him face him again. His look changed, he looked… hurt? 

"Do you know how I feel when you just throw me away after we had _you-know-what_? I'm not a slut, Nino, I have feelings!"

This hit Nino right in the heart. It's not what he thought, or was it? "Well, I – I have feelings too!"

"So what are your feelings then? You have to tell me!" Aiba demanded a proper explanation. "You're so hard to figure, Nino. I thought I reached you but you…"

"I feel… I feel _used_ ," the young man burst out finally.

Aiba froze, gaping at him. " _You_ feel _used_?! Are you even listening to yourself? I – I think you're misunderstanding something essential here."

"You just decided by yourself that you want to fall in love and have a relationship," Nino continued, finally able to voice his thoughts. "You forced yourself onto me although I told you that I don't want to date you. You even made me confront my feelings for my old crush, just to find out that I actually don't have such a deep crush on him any longer because there's someone else I like recently. You completely messed up my whole life, I don't know what to feel any longer, OK? So please, just… let me think about this for a while."

"You don't trust me," Aiba let his hands sink from Nino's arms, his eyes had taken this sad look again and Nino's heart cringed. "You don't believe me that I love you, that's it, right? You're so obsessed with the idea of being just an _experiment_ that you cannot even accept the possibility of _really_ being loved. You think I only love you because I _decided_ to do so but you're wrong!"

It was incredible how Aiba could pinpoint Nino's fears precisely. Maybe, he underestimated his boyfriend. He thought Aiba wouldn't understand him, would call him crazy, however, he knew _exactly_ what was troubling Nino and that impressed him a bit. 

"You have to admit, those thoughts aren't so unlikely," the younger man murmured silently.

Then, Nino got pulled into a tight hug. He felt Aiba's arms wrapping around him, pressing him against his warm body. Nino felt his breath being taken, his heartbeat hammering against them. Aiba's hands were at his back and at the back of his head, burying in his hair, pressing him close.

"We might have had a strange start but eventually, I truly fell in love with you," Aiba said.

His voice sounded so honest that Nino couldn't prevent the little sprout of hope growing in his heart. He wanted to believe it. He really wanted to believe it. Automatically, he lifted his hands, wanting to wrap his arms around the other to hold onto him, but he didn't dare.

"Why?" Nino whispered.

"Why not?" Aiba whispered back, a small chuckle against Nino's ear as if the young man just asked the dumbest question in the world.

"I'm an idiot. I'm confused over my own feelings, I'm not particularly nice or anything, I didn't even give you the love and affection you were longing for when we were dating. Instead, I almost tried to hook up with my old college crush…"

"But you didn't. You cleared things and you let someone else into your heart – me, right?" Aiba continued whispering. His breath tickled Nino's ear, and he shivered. "You like me, don't you? That's why you're scared, you're scared I could hurt you."

Nino's heart cringed. Exactly. That's it. 

"I just… I don't know… Didn't you just randomly pick me to _love_ because I am around? You may find another guy – or girl – soon that you can _really_ fall in love with and then, what will happen to me? By then I would have invested feelings into a relationship that wasn't meant to last," the truth, all of his doubts finally spilled out of his mouth. Still he didn't dare to hug Aiba back.

The other shook his head, his hair tickling Nino's cheek. Then, he let go of Nino, to look at him directly. He looked determined. "You're too pessimistic. And you force an image that you have of me onto me that isn't true. You're being unfair. I at least deserve a chance! You have to trust me, Nino!"

And how should he do that? Nino wondered. Maybe his understanding of love was just so twisted and strange, that he just wasn't able to feel it when he received it. Maybe _he_ was the problem here. Why did he hide behind a long lasting one-sided crush, why didn't he allow any relationship to form?

"That's nonsense…," _I don't deserve this_ , Nino thought. "This whole thing was a really stupid idea to begin with. Let's just stop this and go back to normal before…"

"Too late, Nino."

"What?"

"It's too late. Things won't get back to normal, not for me," Aiba said in a serious voice. "We went too far to go back to only being friends. It won't be enough for me," the young man lifted his hand and brushed it lovingly over Nino's cheek who closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the touch. "Nino, why do you think I fell in love with you?"

"Because you decided to?" Nino could hear his own voice breaking.

"Silly...," Aiba chuckled slightly. 

His hand rested against his boyfriend's cheek and he leaned forward, closing their distance again. He feared that Nino might push him back or back off but surprisingly, he allowed Aiba to kiss him, just a soft touch of their lips, before Aiba drew back and locked eyes with Nino who opened his eyes again.

"I'm not silly…," Nino whispered, blushing.

"You are," Aiba smiled. "I might have said that I had decided to fall in love but just like you said... falling in love is nothing that you can decide. It happens. And it happened to me. And to you too, right?"

Nino didn't reply but his heart was screaming. _Yes!_

"I always liked you a lot, Nino, since the first day we met. You've become my best friend. And it was just a really tiny step from _like_ to _love_ ," Aiba continued and Nino's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to believe it. He wanted to trust Aiba. "There are so many reasons, why I fell in love with you. You're nice, funny, and talented, you always share your food with me, even if you pretend to do it just because you don't want to throw it away."

Nino couldn't help but blush slightly. He didn't know Aiba saw him like that. "Idiot," he murmured but he didn't mean it. He chuckled.

"I love that you call me an idiot but nevertheless laugh at my lame jokes," Aiba smirked, pointing at Nino to demonstrate an example. "I love that you are honest. That you have passion but still are a modest guy. I love your cute side, your shy side, your grumpy side, your artistic side, your loving side, everything. I love your eyes, your lips, all those cute tiny moles on your face. I love how you blush when you're embarrassed – just like now, you see?" Aiba chuckled and yes, Nino blushed deeply again. "I love your neck, your collarbones, I love your cute hands and I love your voice – and I don't only mean your awesome singing voice, I might say. I mean, your moans, oh my god -"

"It's enough, pervert!" Nino interrupted his boyfriend, his face deeply red like a tomato. "It's OK, I get it, OK?"

Aiba arched an eyebrow. "Really? I could go on and on like this."

"It's enough, really, please stop it, it's so embarrassing," the younger said, putting his hands onto Aiba's shoulders, looking at him shyly. "I get it. And I really appreciate your thoughts."

"So can you believe me?"

"I think I have no choice, right? You're very convincing, I might say."

Aiba smirked, triumphantly. "So you won't break up with me and stay here for the rest of the weekend?"

"I'll stay," Nino just replied, nodding slightly, earning a joyful laugh from the other man.

"Great, so we can go back to bed now? I don't have enough of morning cuddling yet," Aiba smiled widely, allowing his hands to touch Nino's hips and push him slightly to get him to lie down again.

"Are you having dirty thoughts now?!" Nino arched an eyebrow.

Aiba chuckled cutely. "No, _you_ are having dirty thoughts, obviously!"

"I don't!" the younger protested, blushing but he didn't resist when Aiba finally pulled him down on the bed again, hugging him, happily.

"You're so cute!"

"I'm not!"

Aiba started tickling the other, threatening not to stop until he admitted that he was cute and had dirty thoughts. Nino had a hard time to catch his breath before finally giving up. Aiba hugged him even closer, Nino had completely opened his heart finally, and they cuddled underneath the warm blanket, enjoying the closeness. Finally, Nino parted his lips to speak, meeting Aiba's curious look.

"I really like you," the younger blurted out, surprising his boyfriend with his directness. "This is awkward and I'm still not sure if this will really work out well in the long run but I _love_ you and I want us to try for real. So don't you dare break my heart, you hear me?"

The taller man broke into a smile, his cheeks taking a slightly pink colour. "Will never ever do so! I'll make you happy, promise!"

"Good then," the younger answered with a sincerely happy smile on his face.

Nino leaned forward, pecking Aiba's lips and Aiba kissed him back, stormily and both knew they would be liars if they said that they didn't consider putting their _dirty thoughts_ into action, immediately.

 

**Epilogue**

 

A few weeks later things still went quite well between Aiba and Nino. Aiba kept his promise – to make Nino happy – and Nino tried his best to do the same for Aiba. They still could be seen bickering at times, lovingly though, as Mao liked to add with a mischievous smirk on her lips.

They were still friends, colleagues, but also partners and lovers. They joked around, teased each other. They went on dates sometimes, for dinner to _The little Mackerel_ , visiting Ohno and his wife or they went to watch baseball games together, even if they cheered for different teams. At times, they went to the cinema (with Nino choosing the movies after the fiasco with Mao's film choice) and from time to time, they met with Sho and some other people from his company for karaoke, as promised. Gradually, Sho was getting closer to his new crush Aoi Yu, who turned out to be a very nice but also very shy woman – the complete opposite of Sho's ex, Maki – and Nino hoped that this time things would turn out well for his friend. Sho still didn't manage to ask her out for a date though, so maybe, things would take a bit longer.

In the meantime, Sho had published the critique for Nino's album in his publishing company's music magazine and Aiba had been running around in the _Crescendo_ , showing the puff piece to customer after customer, obviously proud of his boyfriend. Nino instead couldn't bear Aiba's behaviour, feeling embarrassed over him bragging about Nino's work in front of what felt like the whole world to him. However, the article had boosted the sales of his indie album, even to the point that the indie label decided to order a second run of prints after the first run was sold out.

Further, Nino received a few invitations for gigs in several local clubs and it seemed that Aiba – who rose from his self-proclaimed No. 1 fan to his self-proclaimed manager – was in negotiations about a possible CD contract with a major label. Still, this sounded too good to be true to Nino's ears and he wasn't even sure if he really wanted something like that to happen. It wasn't like he intended to become a full time musician or sought for national popularity anyway. He just wanted to continue making music that he enjoyed, making the people who listened to it like it, hold a gig from time to time and keep working in the music shop together with Aiba. That was more than enough for his personal happiness.

Nino had a day off on Saturday this week and so he stayed at home and worked on one of his WIP songs, aiming to finish it before Aiba would drop by after work for a nice lazy evening. It was almost ready, the melody still needed a last finishing touch, and then it should work out well. He had changed the lyrics completely from what they had been in the beginning – not that he ever had been serious about those first draft lyrics anyway – and he was somewhat happy with the outcome. More than that though, he especially hoped that Aiba would like the song, since it was the one the other man inspired him to... Sort of.

Aiba arrived at Nino's place, running and sweating, telling him that he had been rushing since he couldn't wait to hold his boyfriend in his arms. Nino pushed him away though, complaining that he was reeking and sent him to the bathroom to take a shower, threatening that he would only kiss a freshly showered boyfriend.

Pouting, Aiba vanished into the bathroom, following Nino's ("Strict!") orders but must have showered in record time because it didn't even take him 10 minutes before he was sitting next to Nino on the younger man's bed, a striped towel wrapped around his waist while he was still drying his hair with another one. Nino didn't look up from his music sheets, but he did notice his boyfriend's presence as well as the nice smell from the shower gel he used.

Aiba didn't dare to lean closer, not wanting to drip water onto Nino's work, but still he tried to stretch his neck a little, curiously.

"Did you finish your new song, Nino?" he finally asked.

Nino scribbled some last notes on the paper and seemed to be thinking for a few more seconds, before turning to Aiba. He nodded. "I did. I think, you'll like it. Shall I… play it for you?"

"Yes, please!" his boyfriend cheered, excited. "What’s it called?"

Nino blushed nicely and reached for his guitar that he had put beside him while he was writing. "It's called _"I want to fall in love"_ "

"Eh? How cheesy!" Aiba smirked and nudged Nino's side, teasingly.

"Hey, it's what _you_ said when you tried to convince me to date you, you remember?" the younger countered, arching an eyebrow.

"So _that_ did inspire you?" Aiba chuckled.

"Not really…," Nino murmured, scratching his head. He hoped that Aiba didn't hear him.

"So it's a love song?"

"Yeah, it's -," Nino nodded but before he could even tell more about it, Aiba excitedly cut his words.

"With a Happy Ending?"

Nino chuckled before he nodded. "With a Happy Ending."

"Then I'll surely love the song."

"Shut up now and listen," Nino said, pecking his boyfriend's lips, before he readjusted his guitar on his lap and started playing. Just for him.

 

**Happy Ending :)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!
> 
> Thanks for reading this story until the very end, I hope you enjoyed it! ^^ In case you want to re-read it in the future, you can also download the full PDF version: http://www.mediafire.com/file/l76nv7p1ad6era0/sky_fish7+-+I+want+to+fall+in+love_complete.pdf. Enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> What?! Sky is posting but it's not Sakumiya?! I'm sorry guys, this might be very uncommon and it will probably be the one and only Aimiya I will post, but this was burning in my system for so long and I just had to let it out! I don't know if people even remember but I made a promise after finishing Chatterbox (and Love Potion) that I would come up with an Aimiya fanfiction one day to atone to Aiba that he never gets Nino in my fanfictions. XD Well, here he gets his chance…  
> As always, thanks to my dear halfbrain wendyjoly and my super awesome betareader jtaytt for their support and help! <3 (Written in 2015-2016, originally posted on my lj in 2016)


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